Episodes

  • Adapting to Spain's culinary landscape with dysphagia.

    Adapting to Spain's culinary landscape with dysphagia.
    Sep 12 2024
    My Google Translated Elevator Pitch … Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.It’s happening.I am about to navigate 6 weeks of eating on the hoof, away from my kitchen and most importantly, away from my country of origin. I am travelling half way around the world to walk across the Pyrenees and Spain. The Camino Frances I have experience of course, two previous Caminos under my belt, my very first Camino hand selected based on the food alone. The Portuguese Coastal way, think soft fleshed fish, BBQ vegetables and soup instead of crusty bread, cheese and meat, like ham & bacon. The perfect bacon I had all but given up on, presented itself on the buffet at the hotel I first stayed in Porto. Unlike failed attempts to eat “bacon” in Australia, it was soft, flavourful and seem to disintegrate on impact. I put it down to the pig, the way it was raised, my attempts in Australia was akin to chewing shards of glass, little joy in any of that. That was the plan, it worked well and I ate fish soup, a lot of garlic bread and plenty of beautiful fresh fish with steamed potato and sometimes mayonnaise. I had a lot of stunning coffee (cafe branco) and pastries filled with sweet custards dusted with icing sugar. I consumed tuna and fish pastries and quite unexpectedly I did not choke, sneeze or gag much, if at all. The pastries had enough fat to slide and if and when they caught, I had coffee and or water on hand. Stunning pocket sized morsels that kept me going kilometre after gruelling kilometre.I chose the Portuguese coastal way as my first Camino for no other reason than my expectation of the food on offer. It turned out that I could manage quite a variety of food, including some breads, some cold meats and definitely the beer and the Portuguese wine - mental note to self, don’t talk yourself into not being able to eat something. I talk about the food here to some length in takes you to my You Tube channel.Eating in Portugal go to time stamp 3 mins where I speak directly to thoughts as to why I could manage something like bacon in Portugal but as to why it varied between establishments. I also love the ocean and the two combined made an ideal active holiday for me. The first one since head and neck cancer treatment and my first in Europe. I spent the majority and most of my adult life in Australia and South East Asia, so to experience Europe in Portugal whilst walking a spiritual path was the perfect introduction for me. In Portugal I noticed olive oil was served with most things, little acoutrement packages of oil, mayonnaise, mustard, sauce - every where I went that meant I could add a little moisture to food that I sampled. I was surprised with what I could manage and as my confidence grew walking, so did my food repertoire. The only meal I had which caused me some problems was smoked salmon and avocado in Lisbon. I carefully selected what I thought I could manage off the menu but it came smothered in a seeds and the avocado was too unripe for me to manage. I couldn’t chew it, break it down nor swallow it easily, it also came with lettuce and we all know how that turns out.I went hungry that night and there was no kettle in my room so I couldn’t prepare a cup of soup or a cup of tea. Be aware, Spain and Portugal don’t as a rule have kettles in rooms so preparing soup in a cup or noodles when desperate was not possible. Spain - what’s next. I am excited and filled with anticipation as to how Spain will unfold. I am only in France for a few days and I suspect that will be a different culinary experience again. My first two Caminos gave me an enormous amount of food confidence, food confidence I had not realised had been eroded from many months of Peg tube feeding, my relationship with food had changed dramatically and the process of walking and eating became symbiotic and the process to which my new life began.I don’t panic about what I can eat, I know that there will always be something I can manage even if I can’t communicate internal radiated fibroids in Portuguese or Spanish but what I can say is this …Los efectos secundarios del tratamiento del cáncer de cabeza y cuello significan que tengo problemas para tragar alimentos y bebidas. Translated means Side effects of head and neck cancer treatment means I have trouble swallowing food & drink.What Spain will provide is part of my food learning journey, I will not pack any additional preconceived food fears, I will pack healthy optimism and the knowledge that I must try to eat at least 3000 calories a day to compensate the 25-30 kms of walking. I know there is considerable amounts of meat available and often selecting any vegetarian options are just easier from a dental hygiene (ORN) and time perspective (eating with others). I have lost weight on previous Caminos and chocolate, Portuguese custard tarts (Pastel de nata) and wine became a staple in my daily eating and main calories (...
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Reclaiming my life.

    Reclaiming my life.
    Aug 23 2024

    House Keeping: Some of the content I share here is really early days for me - literally weeks after treatment so you will notice hair changes, skin changes, speech changes and likely weight changes.

    I am going to take you on my healing journey and provide some insight into what I have learnt along the way.

    It will hopefully help those at the beginning and those (like me) a little way down the healing track.

    I just found this video clip I did for Facebook back in 2019.

    Not my best recording, the intent being for close family and friends not for platforms like Substack, still it serves a purpose for those early in their journey, or like me 5 years + out and maybe need a kick start again. A reminder to how far we have all come on our individual journeys.

    This was 5 years ago.

    I was still struggling to speak and recall I wanted to help people understand head and neck cancer treatment (me included) and I thought (love those drugs!) a mass video would do the trick. Little did I know, that this family video was the impetus for this publication GAG. | eating life that you are now reading.

    It never fails to surprise me the progress made and how challenges are faced and conquered. I hadn’t realised I was still PEG tube feeding when I filmed this and that might explain why I look so gaunt. Pouring commercial formula into a tube in my abdomen. I was on a lot of drugs and really I had no idea conceptually what was going on around me if I am being honest. It wasn’t until I started to peel off the individual drugs that reality hit, and it hit hard, right when Covid took over the world. I curled up in the corner and just let it take its course. I healed with the world.

    I posted this to help those that might need motivation, that might need to hear another’s journey, if for no other reason than to commiserate.

    It does and can get better, I am living proof of that, I still have my tough days and the longer I move away from my treatment year, the more subtle and challenging the new way of living becomes.

    Like you, I have had to find my way & manage the days, the nights and I will share with you over the next few weeks some of my recorded journey.

    Below is an episode all about dental care and what I have learnt. May 2023 - This is a recorded version of my Podcast - GAG | eating life.

    Thanks for joining me here today and as always …

    Resources can be found here

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    6 mins
  • Grace.

    Grace.
    Aug 10 2024



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 min
  • Eating in public.

    Eating in public.
    Jul 24 2024

    I don’t often eat ice cream anymore, I find the melt point a little bit difficult to manage, back when I first had treatment for Oropharyngeal stage four cancer, the ice cream use to burn my throat, it felt gritty and as a result, unless it’s top shelf (high fat content) and expensive, I don’t enjoy it.

    I started making my own “ice cream” with just frozen bananas and that with some seeded strawberry puree is the bomb.

    You’d think this would be relatively easy to eat in public and it was, except I was sitting in my car and not having to talk to anyone. I avoid eating in public quite a bit now unless I absolutely have to. In part because I can’t tolerate having food stuck to my teeth and or gums and I get so tired trying to eat, converse, keep myself looking like an adult and managing dental hygiene. It all just has too many moving parts.

    Today, quite uncharacteristically I bought an ice cream (its dead of winter here) and ate it in the carpark whilst I waited for my meeting. Cones made of wafer are pretty good as I still can’t tolerate wooden sticks in my mouth.

    Nope, can’t stand the ‘feel’ of them any more, I often tell my surgeon when he’s giving me an endoscopy and checking my throat - please rinse that wooden tongue depressor under running water before putting it any where near my mouth.

    Wooden cutlery / bamboo cutlery I’ll have none of it thank you very much.

    Airlines and on board cutlery is my next challenge.

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 min
  • Training for food confidence with dysphagia after HNC treatment.

    Training for food confidence with dysphagia after HNC treatment.
    Jun 21 2024

    For those of you who have been here with me for a while, know that I hike, and when I say hike, I mean hundreds of kilometres. It saved my sanity, my life whilst healing from Stage 4 Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

    This will be my third hike in Europe in as many years. This will be the longest one yet.

    The Camino Frances which will test my food confidence and my early ORN just enough to make it really annoying.

    I have a fundraiser with Head and Neck Cancer Australia so If you can afford to, please consider donating which will motivate me to continue to train and bring you updates.

    I’ll be honest I am still working out how I am going to record this trip but if you feel as though you want to know more about my hiking life - I have a You Tube channel which I created to document my hikes for my personal record and enjoyment.

    Copy eat and travel write

    Other hikes about food confidence can be found here and living in Vietnam when it all went horribly wrong here

    or my first Camino Portuguese here

    I plan on writing and sketching this hike in memory of my artist mother, Moira McClaren.

    I am taking her sketching pencils so that a little bit of her comes with me, mum loved Spain and she and dad never had a chance to go back so I am making up lost time and opportunities.

    More to follow.

    Eat Well.



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    2 mins
  • When beans ain't soups.

    When beans ain't soups.
    May 6 2024
    Housekeeping: Hello there, if you are new here be sure to check out the podcast too, link on the GAG.| eating life homepage. Soup. It’s a noun but one I use as a verb and an adjective. Rightly or wrongly. I am working on improving my gut biome. There’s nothing glamorous about gut biome for most people, but for me it’s a fascinating and challenging view on food we don’t often consider, and now for me one that requires extra special attention given my inability to eat most fresh fruit, berries, salad, seeds and nuts without some serious culinary intervention. Post head and neck cancer treatment (aka radiotherapy) sometimes I can eat that, but on other days, those ending with a “y”, I can’t. Or one week I am absolutely fine with a certain soup, the next week not so much. It makes it incredibly hard to meal plan and prep in advance. So improving gut biome has been challenging. Radiotherapy and the alterations it leaves to a “functioning swallow” I have had stages of difficulty of swallowing from the start to current day. I had a PEG tube inserted before I left hospital following radiotherapy, surgery and the nuance of swallowing was lost on me for the first 15 months, that is the nuance of texture, melt point, grip, slide and inhale risk. The things we learn. Cancer booklets on suggested food items available way back when, unhelpful in their suggested trail mix to keep protein levels up, baked beans on muffins (skin issue let alone the “muffin” issue) keep snacks in the car - ridiculous to think that any HNC patient was going to eat in the car. Five years on I have never eaten a snack in the car, I now, where possible plan phone calls around eating, meetings around eating and any face to face encounters around not only what I eat but my proximity to a mirror, bathroom and my water pikster. Back to the beans in question. In my quest to improve gut biome I have gone all out to eat more fruit, vegetable, nuts and seeds as 98% of my diet. I have just completed month one. I feel amazing, I have lost 3kgs in weight (6.62 pounds for those that operate in pounds) and I am starting to notice some very subtle changes to bloat, swelling, skin tone and eye clarity, and the dreaded radiotherapy frog spawn. It’s ever so improved, just the tiniest bit. Salads were lost to me for so long, previous posts I have talked about the bricks and mortar of my salads. I make hummus with chickpeas, organic tahini (seeds), loads of garlic and lemon juice and sometimes added fresh beetroot just for colour. My sister kindly donated some homegrown eggplant that were made into babaganoush again with added garlic, tahini, cumin and smoky paprika. These dollops of gloop held the structure of salad together for me. I’d add quinoa, pearl barley, roasted vegetable and oven baked pita wraps to scoop up the gloop!Avocado, roasted butternut squash and black beans, with purple onion, fresh herbs and vinaigrette dressings with olive oil, dijon mustard You get the idea. I had to experiment with beans - so I purchased navy beans and soaked them for 8 hours and then simmered them until tender for another 1-1.5 hours. I couldn’t manage them. Grainy, skin issues, like eating grit off the bottom of a budgie cage. I turned to my hike in Portugal, well Galicia actually and turfed those beans into a pot with beef broth, loads of sliced green cabbage, celery, onion, garlic and simmered away until it resembled one of the soups I had on my pilgrimage hike across Spain and Portugal. Then I blitzed the lot with a hand held blender until smooth and creamy. Success with the navy beans finally. Eating more fruit a bigger challenge again, I long gave up biting into an apple. Strawberries with their summery lusciousness have to be pureed and seeded, watermelon for me almost impossible, mango better but banana requires a great deal of concentration. Smoothie bowls of tinned peaches, silken tofu, organic chia seeds and topped with dairy free coconut yogurt and sprinkled with pan roasted pepita seeds, dessicated coconut, slithered almonds - all toasted just to the right texture to enable swallowing. Is this dedication to eating worth it? For me yes, I am not going to lie to you, it takes some time to get the hang of it, but I note the food shopping list remains constant with enough variation to mix up meals, I am eating a load more fruit, vegetable, protein and as a result a lot more nutrient dense food. I have all but eliminated bread, biscuits, sugar (other than a sneaky Biscoff - who ever created those things is a genius! ) and I have forgiven myself for not eating like I use to. I love soup and always have, now I embrace the fact they are the one constant food item in my eating repertoire. Eat well.GAG.| eating life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Soup can be a noun referring to a liquid dish typically made by boiling meat, fish, or vegetables in ...
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Ep 75 Beyond surviving: supportive interventions for reclaiming social eating

    Ep 75 Beyond surviving: supportive interventions for reclaiming social eating
    Jan 17 2024

    There's a a full transcript available.

    This episode I talk about my reason for being and why I create these resources for you.

    Here are the links I refer to during the podcast:

    Gumroad Resources Check out the latest E guide and the Mind Food Body Program

    Rota Vicentina Travel - Ricardo



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe

    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    19 mins
  • Ep 74 Scanxiety & blood tests ...

    Ep 74 Scanxiety & blood tests ...
    Nov 23 2023



    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe

    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.com/subscribe
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    15 mins