In hospital your child will be seen by a dietician to make sure he/she is well nourished and does not lose too much weight. The dietician is available for you to discuss any concerns you may have about your child’s diet.

Advice for neutropenic children

Many of the foods we eat contain small harmless numbers of bacteria. The treatment your child has received means they are more at risk of developing or suffering from gut infection from the bacteria in the food. This advice sheet offers some tips on how you can reduce the risks.

• Always wash your hands before handling food
• Keep your fridge at the correct temperature (below 5ºC)
• Store raw food and cooked foods separately in the fridge
• Ensure all foods are within the sell by date
• Wash all fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating
• Use pasteurised/UHT/sterilised milk
• Cook food thoroughly, especially meat, poultry and eggs
• Avoid reheating food
• Avoid pate and soft ripened cheeses
• If eating out try to use restaurants or takeaways where the standard of hygiene is guaranteed and the food can be freshly cooked for you.

If you have any queries contact your child’s dietician or local hospital.

Additional forms of nutritional support

It is very important to maintain good nutritional input whilst on treatment. There may be occasions when your child may require additional forms of nutritional support. Whilst working with a dietician, your consultant and nurse will discuss additional forms of nutrition with you. These may include supplements that can be added to food and drink or via feeding tubes.

There are two forms of feeding tubes that are regularly used including; a Nasogastric Tube (NG) which is used as a short term support and a Gastrostomy (also known as a peg) which is used when a longer period of nutritional support is required. These tubes allow us to provide Enteral Nutrition, which is fluid nutrition inserted directly into the stomach.

There is another form of nutritional support that may be required known as Parenteral Nutrition, nutrients and fluids are given directly into the bloodstream via a central line, which is usually only used for a short period of time.

All nutritional support is individualised to each patient and will be discussed with you in full.