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Weight Loss

By Ary
Posted April 20, 2009 at 12:35 am · 8 replies
In Nutrition
Shared with the public

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about
nutrition. My husband has no interest in food. ( No nausea or vomiting. )
I am offering smaller meals, milk shakes and ensures
(4 a day) whey drink too. Today he only drank the drinks and a banana, yogurt and small cup of soup. He is losing so much weight its scary. Does this happen to everybody? He has stage IV lung cancer.
I am turning into a nag offering the food. All he wants to do is sleep.

Thankyou for answering my previous discussion, it
was a big help to be surrounded by such wonderful
people and I thank God for your help. You make all the difference.

God Bless

Missy

ps He used to love my cooking ;-D

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Cancer Pain Lung cancer Remeron

8 replies

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By sheilake
Posted April 20, 2009 at 3:31 am
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Your intuition is right. Nutrition is a critical issue. It is helpful to know what is happening that he isn't hungry. Is it that food isn't appealing because of chemo? Is he is so much pain that he doesn't have an appetite? Is he depressed? Sometimes it is a sign that the body is shutting down.

You need to talk to your oncologist and experiment with whatever needs to be done to get him to eat (e.g., pain meds, appetite stimulants, anti-depressants, reducing the dose of the chemo, etc.) My oncologist told me that 40 percent of cancer patients die of malnutrition so this is a serious issue.

My heart is with you. Know how hard this must be.

Very best wishes,
Sheila

By fourthgrade126
Posted April 20, 2009 at 5:25 am
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I know only to well where you are coming from. My mom has lost over 100 lbs. in the last year. She just can't eat even though she wants to. Mom has been on several different appetite stimulants including megase. They work for a short period of time. I try to give small meals several times a day and ensure but she still can't eat. I will be praying or you and your husband.
Pam

By Ary
Posted April 20, 2009 at 9:10 am
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Thankyou Pam. I heard Remeron might work too.
And elevate your mood....

Prayers and love to you and your mom.

Missy

By Ary
Posted April 20, 2009 at 9:14 am
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Thankyou so much Sheila. I will ask about Remeron and Megase. I appreciate the good sound advice and
will keep at it with the doctors until I see improvement.

God Bless,

Missy

By mamanolte
Posted April 20, 2009 at 12:13 pm
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Weight loss is also associated with the loss of muscle and muscle needs nutrition. Maybe some mild form of exercise, even a walk around the block now that the weather is better, will stimulate his appetite. Also ginger is an appetite enhancer. Perhaps some ginger tea might help.
Cheryll

By Family4Me
Posted April 20, 2009 at 1:47 pm
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My Dad lost a lot of weight, but what I found was icecream..for some reason, it was easy for him to swallow and would get him ready for other food...if he had icecream first, we could get him to eat some meat and veggies to follow.

By ronnieandjanet
Posted April 20, 2009 at 3:15 pm
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My mom has lost over 60 pounds since August. She says that food balls up in her mouth and sticks to her teeth. She says she is hungry, but nothing will get past that mouth. It is so aggravating. She gets a little "pissey" with us now when we talk about her eating. It is just one of the many things we are dealing with. I HATE CANCER!!

By giaccino
Posted April 20, 2009 at 4:56 pm
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I found that I could eat McDonalds hamburgers and fries even though I don't normally like them. They tasted better when I was on chemo. Now that I am off chemo they don't taste so good again, go figure. Keep trying stuff until you find something he likes. You taste buds change so things will taste different. I couldn't eat a lot of things that I loved before and was able to eat many things I did not like previously. I also cooked for myself so I could modify things to match what tasted good. I actually GAINED weight while I was on chemo. (I am a pretty good cook)

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