After surgery or chemotherapy, your appetite drops sharply. It is hard enough to take a single spoonful, so hearing "make sure to get your protein" honestly feels overwhelming. But the reason protein matters so much in this period is that protein is the very material our body uses to heal wounds and refill lost flesh. Especially for those who have had part of the stomach or colon removed, the very efficiency of absorbing nutrients is reduced, so even eating as usual, the body is close to a state of always lacking materials.
The first thing to go during treatment is muscle. If you lose weight and only fat is lost, that is fortunate, but sadly muscle melts away along with it. When muscle decreases, you have no energy and keep lying down, and lying down makes you lose even more muscle, creating a vicious cycle. The stamina to endure the next chemotherapy schedule ultimately comes from this muscle. So rather than "so what if I've lost a little weight," holding onto the lost muscle with protein becomes the heart of recovery.
So how much should you eat? Usually, picturing a portion of meat, fish, or tofu about the thickness of one palm per meal gives you a sense. The goal is to divide this across three meals a day. Rather than eating a lot all at once, a little steadily at each meal is much easier for the body to accept. This is all the more true for those who have had stomach surgery. Small amounts, but frequently — this is the standard.
When you actually try to get it in, you may wonder what to eat, but the choices are wider than you think. Gently cooked chicken breast or fish, mashed tofu, steamed egg, Greek yogurt, and a warmed glass of milk are all good. On days when chewing and swallowing are hard, there are also protein supplement drinks or ways to stir an egg into rice gruel. If the smell of meat is off-putting, season it mildly with soybean paste or soy sauce, or try eating it warm in a soup. Finding one or two things you crave is the secret to keeping it up.
One thing I want to ask is not to overdo it. There is no need to blame yourself for not eating as much as today's goal. If you took one more spoonful than yesterday, you are already doing well enough. If eating is too hard or your weight keeps dropping, do not struggle alone — discuss it with the hospital's nutrition team or your attending physician and a path will appear. The story written here is only general reference, so be sure to decide the method that suits your body together with your medical staff.