My dad and weight loss.

My dad is 70, and was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 2023. Since then, he’s had radiotherapy on his throat and scans. Unfortunately the scans show that the cancer has spread to his bones, liver, lungs and kidneys. He had three sessions of immunotherapy, which unfortunately made his thyroid bad. He’s rapidly losing weight and even though he has ensures, I’m not convinced he’s having them. He also has an extremely dry mouth which I assume is from the morphine. My question is, who am I best contacting about this? I think he possibly might need to be admitted into hospital to put weight on. 

Parents
  • Hi and thanks for posting. I would suggest contact his GP and ask for a dietician referral, may also benefit from a gp or hospital check to make sure his dry mouth isn't a fungal infection or side effects from treatment. Artificial saliva spray from Amazon can also help.

Reply
  • Hi and thanks for posting. I would suggest contact his GP and ask for a dietician referral, may also benefit from a gp or hospital check to make sure his dry mouth isn't a fungal infection or side effects from treatment. Artificial saliva spray from Amazon can also help.

Children
  • He’s seen a dietician but they say to just keep having his ensures. This week especially he has seemed to decline. I’ve got a saliva substitute arriving today from Amazon so fingers crossed. I think I will ring the GP on Monday to see if they’ll visit him to have a check up. Thank you!