Hair loss and dry skin aren’t the only changes that cancer patients undergoing treatments might notice. They may also lose their sense of taste and smell and their appetite. A new class through Rutherford Regional’s Cancer Resource Center is being offered to patients who are taking chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

The first class is scheduled for Thursday, July 11, at noon, and will be held on the first Thursday of each month thereafter.

“Good nutrition – before, during and after treatment – is very important to a patient’s ability to withstand and recover from treatment,” said Jamie Ingraham, Cancer Outreach program manager for Rutherford Regional. “It is one of the fundamental steps in maintaining a person’s immune system and general health.”

“Nutrition plays a vital role in the healing process, but is often the biggest challenge,” said Rutherford Regional’s Clinical Nutrition Manager Alexandra Lautenschlager, RD, LD and LDN. “When you aren’t hungry and food doesn’t taste or smell the way it should, how do you get enough nutrition? And nutrition is an equal part of cancer treatment.”

Classes will provide information on getting enough nutrition as well as reviews of supplements and supplement alternatives, food safety and recipes. Lautenschlager and Clinical Dietitian Laura Sexton, RD, LDN, will lead the classes.

To register for the class, please call Rutherford Regional’s Cancer Resource Center at 828-245-4596

– article submitted by Allison Flynn