GAG | eating life with head & neck cancer Ep 60 - 120

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.comChapter Six focuses on returning to real life - eating, socialising and rebuilding confidence in everyday situations. This chapter introduces practical strategies for navigating social settings, managing expectations and adapting to change, alongside lived experiences from the Camino that highlight resilience, flexibility and progress.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.comChapter Four introduces the practical adventure of eating at home. This chapter focuses on building confidence independently, using the 5 P’s to support progress, simplifying meal planning, and stocking essential pantry items that make daily eating safer and more manageable.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.comChapter Three introduces the Back at the Table (BA-TT) framework - a structured approach to rebuilding purpose, confidence and independence after treatment. This chapter explores mindset, food systems, physical recovery and future planning, offering practical tools to help reconnect with food, identity and daily life.From next week, new chapters of the GULP Audio Companion will be available to paid subscribers.The introduction and early chapters will remain free, so anyone can begin listening and decide whether the series is helpful for them.Thank you to those who have been listening and sharing these recordings — your support makes it possible to continue producing this work.New chapters are released weekly.Continue the journey with GULPIf this chapter resonates with you, the full GULP book is available in print and digital formats.Buy on AmazonorBuy direct from the authorEach chapter builds on the last - one step, one bite, one return to the table at a time.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit yvonnemcclaren.substack.comChapter Two explores the social side of swallowing - rebuilding confidence around food, navigating public eating, reconnecting with favourite meals, and understanding the role of support systems in recovery.Episode SummaryChapter Two marks the shift from internal survival to rejoining the social world of food.Eating is not just physical - it is social, emotional, and deeply connected to identity. This chapter explores what it means to eat differently around others, how favourite foods can be brought back into daily life, and why having the right people around you matters.You will hear practical strategies for rebuilding confidence, preparing for social situations, and reconnecting with the rituals of food preparation and shared meals.This chapter also introduces key tools such as understanding your own swallowing abilities, working with modified foods, and navigating public eating with greater confidence.Recovery is not just about nourishment - it is about belonging.

Show Notes — Chapter 1Episode Title:GULP — Chapter 1: A Table Lost (Free)Subtitle:When eating is no longer simple - understanding the lived reality of dysphagia.Episode Description Chapter One introduces the reality of what happens when eating is no longer simple. This chapter explores the early impact of treatment, the physical and emotional challenges that follow, and the unexpected loss of confidence around food and social eating.It reflects on the gap between clinical care and practical, everyday food preparation, and the responsibility many patients face when navigating swallowing challenges without clear guidance.This chapter also introduces the concept of commensality - the importance of eating together - and why restoring social eating is not simply a lifestyle issue, but a critical part of recovery, identity, and connection.Drawing from lived experience, this chapter sets the foundation for understanding dysphagia not just as a medical condition, but as a life-altering shift that affects independence, confidence, relationships, and quality of life.This is Chapter One of the GULP audio series and is available as a free introduction to the full series.In this chapter: - The early physical and emotional realities following treatment The impact of medication, fatigue, and recovery The gap between clinical advice and practical food preparation Navigating PEG tube feeding and the transition toward oral eating The importance of creating a roadmap when familiar routines disappear Understanding commensality and the role of shared meals in recovery The social and emotional consequences of losing confidence around eating Why dysphagia affects far more than nutrition aloneListener Note This chapter contains discussion of cancer treatment, PEG feeding, and the lived experience of dysphagia recovery.Access Note (for Chapter 1 only)Chapter One is available to all listeners.The remaining chapters in the GULP audio series are released weekly and are available to paid subscribers. 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 the second instalment from GULP: Taking a Seat Back at the Table After Head and Neck Cancer.In this section, I step back briefly to share some of the background that shaped this book. I don’t dwell on my personal story, but I do offer enough context to help explain where this work comes from and why it matters.You’ll hear reflections on the dedication of the book, the foreword written by my surgeon, and the clinical journey that led me to recognise gaps in care - particularly the spaces between treatment and the everyday reality of living with swallowing changes.I also share a short piece written by a friend and writer who reflected on my life from the outside. That perspective introduced the idea of commensality - the shared human experience that sits underneath illness, recovery, and returning to the table.This section sits just before Chapter One. It provides the foundation for what follows.If you prefer to read, GULP is available on Amazon in both eBook and hardcover formats.Find the book here:[Amazon link]Further chapters will 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

This is the narrated introduction to GULP: Taking a Seat Back at the Table After Head and Neck Cancer.Many people told me that reading was difficult during treatment, recovery, or fatigue - but listening was easier. This audio version is for those moments.In this introduction, I explain why GULP was written, who it is for, and what “taking a seat back at the table” really means. It start a little muffled but improves pretty quickly - think that was internet issues here. If you prefer to read, the full GULP eBook is also available to download, and some readers choose to load the manuscript into their own listening apps so they can listen in the car, or like me hiking. Further narrated chapters will follow.Here are some options, pick what suits you -The full GULP eBook can be downloaded here : GULP e Book The paperback version here on Amazon : GULP Paperback 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

An excerpt from my upcoming book GULP. Taking A Seat Back At The Table After Head And Neck Cancer. I will be presenting at the IDDSI Conference - Monday 20th October 2025. Details here Chapter 2The Rosetta Stone: IDDSIWe Need to Talk About IDDSI: International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation InitiativeTransitioning from a PEG tube back to oral eating is confusing, scary, and fraught with stress and uncertainty. It’s not just about swallowing safely; it’s about rebuilding your entire relationship with food.For many patients, eating more by mouth while maintaining weight and hitting nutritional targets is anything but straightforward. I discovered it involves your mind, your food, and your body - three elements that intertwine and rely on one another for success. I came to realise this firsthand as I stumbled my way through the chaos, trying to make sense of what was happening to me.The Missing Conversation in Dysphagia CareCaring for your thoughts, understanding your options for medical and allied health support, and getting your kitchen, shopping lists, and recipes aligned all matter. Add in the methods required to chew and swallow safely, and you’ve got a full-time job before you even sit down to eat.I documented exactly how I transitioned from 15 months of no oral food - relying solely on my PEG tube - to eventually eating orally again (despite ongoing dysphagia) and completing an 800km hike across Spain, eating whatever I could find on the road.That journey revealed something critical: Dysphagia is one thing, transitioning from PEG to oral food is another beast entirely, and for patients without a love of food, nutrition, or cooking, the hill is even steeper.GULP will be available on Amazon and on my site - ensure you are signed up here when its live. 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

I spent a number of years working out how to transition off a PEG Tube feeder back to oral eating. The "transition" itself took me four months. The ongoing roadmap to eating is an entirely different story, yet the lessons I learnt and the theory model I created for myself continue to serve me well in my ongoing pursuit of living not only my best food life but my best life generally.Currently I am trying to drop a few kilos for a major walk at the end of the year. Nothing crazy just a few kilos that I don't have to carry on the walk with me. That's a whole other strategy based on dysphagia and that salads and raw fruit and vegetable are almost impossible for me. Here is the full programme here.In this episode I talk about Location Ie where are you on your path) confusion & overwhelm. Aspiration including how I evolved and then ultimately succeeded. Lastly I cover outcome - social eating and relationships now. 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

The purpose is to communicate in a logical manner what can be some of the side effects that happen to us as living, breathing human beings during head & neck cancer treatment.In this episode I'm going to be talking about food confidence erosion.I'm going to be talking about beyond the tube and I'm going to be talking about visual value models These value models, what are they all about?They're a way to visually communicate the value steps and outcomes to be achieved by undertaking the self managed online course. Beyond the Tube - A Roadmap to oral Eating. Let’s Begin ….Check out the course here 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 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

The air changes in the lead up to Christmas. That smell, just before Christmas arrives, Christmas morning, something special in Australia it’s dry heat, the dark dawn brings soft strains of black bird call & magpie warble. GAG.| Eating life. is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Perhaps for you it’s burning cold, padded snow & food dread. Christmas lunch a task to be completed like a dental check up, getting through it and a sigh of relief when it’s all done for another year. That’s the reality for many, it’s not about tension within family units, or who did or said what last year, it’s about the focus of the day, the focus of food and drink and the importance placed on this simple activity that is lost to so many of us. Christmas lunch with its matching napkins and placed bon bons. Bowls of snacks for visitors and family you can never mindlessly eat. Inspecting food to establish what, if anything, you might be able to manage discreetly, without having to gag, spit, or conduct major mouth maintenance.Thick cut meat off roasted bone, alcohol ladened sauce that hides a burn or coughing fit. Skin on poultry a choking hazard, flutes of celebratory bubbles that lie flat, dormant not to be raised. Perhaps a soft roast vegetable swimming in sauce or gravy, maybe fruit pudding drowning in custard. Touches that make it Christmas like brandy, dried or glace fruit, spice, are lost - sometimes forever. Chatter, eating, breathing, strains of Christmas carols made hard with incessant Cisplatin ringing. Breathing simultaneous eating, spontaneity, socialising skills brought to the fore. Silver dragees our personal game of thrones, those dastardly silver balls, cracked teeth, jaw bone, choking hazard - adorned on cookies, biscuits, cakes and gingerbread houses, a game of Russian roulette for head and neck cancer sufferers.Nuts, candy, lollies, licorice, spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, bread, rolls, cake, alcohol, icing, ham, pork, chicken, beef, potatoes, pudding, chocolate, coconut - shall I go on? Christmas. Then there’s Marjorie’s husband Ray and thousands like him, who feed through a PEG. Not having to worry about Christmas eating, it’s not happening for them. Spiced mead, eggnog, cold beer, beading French Champagne, it doesn’t matter. You can’t taste it through a PEG, is it even Christmas? It’s a solitary life and experience and one that’s very hard to explain, and equally hard to endure. But endure we do, year after year and the “eating Christmas” becomes an annual chapter in the life after - literally. We just do our best. Wherever you are in the world, you might be eating curry, coconut, fish, chicken, turkey, salad, prawns on a barbecue, salami, weber food, cold sandwiches - it doesn’t much matter, if you are lucky, you are sharing that time with family, friends and people who understand your situation. Head and neck cancer treatment whether we eat orally or not affects everyone, the care givers, the PEG users, friends, strangers, the patients themselves.It is often a time of dread, a time that simply amplifies the lack of the ability to eat, swallow, to participate in something that is a simple life pleasure. It never gets easier, it never lets up, it simply becomes another thing to manage in the after math of head and neck cancer treatment. Christmas, in all it’s celebration and meaning, a large part of it is eating with family, friends and loved ones. Take a moment to reflect on your eating ability and what it means, and for people like Marjorie’s husband, perhaps the Christmas spirit is more about love, about the human spirit, about being kind and knowing that everyone is going through something you know absolutely nothing about. Perhaps it is less about the food and more about the grievances in the world and our hope for world peace. Wherever you are reading this, I wish for you a Merry, safe, and loving Christmas, oh and Ray a special Merry Christmas to you. 🎄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. 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

* I am not a medical professional but I am a lived experience patient*💜 Before this horrible journey started I was a very social person. I was ( or had been) an event manager, worked in and around food and wine all my career, and even turned down an audition opportunity for MasterChef here in Australia.  I had Head & Neck Cancer (subsequent treatment) and a PEG tube feeder in my stomach for over a year. I didn't eat orally for 15 months. Episode 5 - It's not about the cook book but the recipe! The physical & mental constraints we experience as HNC treatment patients.  In this episode I am discussing:- Trismus and dry mouthDepression, anxiety, fear & failure Breathe, meditation and stretchingYou can download the 4 Step Eating process  here Transition off  a PEG tube Support the showYour listening to me here, you can also subscribe, watch on You Tube, follow me on socials, buy me a glass of bubbles and or ask a question. Find out how to do all that and more here 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