Life after stomach removal

Hi all, looking for some advice. About a year and a half ago, my dad has whole stomach removed due to cancer. They created a false stomach from part of the bowel and joined everything up. 

Since then, we've battled trying to figure it all out as he was discharged from the hospital with absolutely no information, referrals to dieticians or nutritionalists. We've just been trying to figure out what works on our own but now it's getting to the point where we don't know what to do anymore and I'm reaching out to see if anyone else is having the same experience and could perhaps give us some advice. 

We've gotten past the point where he's getting his vitamins in injections, he's been perpetually on a long course of antibiotics to fight another unrelated condition, he receives dialysis 3 times a week and will often get a batch of antibiotics in at the end of these sessions. Over the last year, he's experienced the same problem that we've never been able to get to the bottom of. Nausea while eating. At this point, he's weighing less than 70kilos and is naught but skin and bone, absolutely no muscle tone whatsoever.

I know the advice after having the stomach removed, is 6-8 meals per day, right now, he's having about 3 mouthfuls of dinner and can't eat any more, sometimes manages toast in the morning and very lucky if he can even take a half mug of soup at lunch. He spends most of his time feeling a bit sick and it seems to get worse as soon as he starts to eat and then can't eat anything else. We've had another endoscopy done and it's came back that everything looks normal and clear. I'm also looking to buy him an intolerance test to see if he's developed any intolerances or allergies.

I'm at my wits end and we are getting absolutely nowhere with the hospital so I'm wondering if anyone out there has had a similar experience after this surgery and what else we could do to try and help him. Thanks in advance for any help

  • Hello and thank you for your post

    It sounds like it's been a hard time for you all as a family. I'm sorry that you haven't had any dietary support as it can be difficult going through trial and error to find out what may be best. As your dad has other health conditions including dialysis, the nausea may also perhaps be due to these health problems - hopefully he is getting anti sickness tablets and has discussed these symptoms with all of his specialists.

    Do ask the GP if there is any community dietician available and also you can try getting back to the clinic at the hospital and speak to the cancer or dialysis nurses with a view to seeing a dietician. Alternatively, if you have tried this recently and have not got anywhere you can try asking the GP for a referral to another hospital for a review.

    There is more here about coping with diet problems and the different food supplements that are sometimes given when someone is losing weight  Some people find that peppermint and or ginger can help with nausea, but as your dad is having dialysis, there may be some foods that he may need to limit- always check with his dialysis team.

    There may also be someone at the forum on the Guts UK charity who may have had similar problems.

    I'm sorry I haven't been able to help - I hope your dad manages to get some help with this from a dietician. The British Dietetic Association  may also be worth contacting.

    All the best to you both

    Wanda