It is really hard to get the calories in when you are "off" your food and food doesn't taste as expected and eating is a chore. If your husband can choke down enough of those thick supplementary drinks he will get enough nutrition to keep him going. I think 6 a day does it, but its a horrible chore. Serving him small portions will help as a big plate of food can be quite daunting, putting him off even starting the meal. Little and often seems best. Also what is palatable today may not be tomorrow. As Cathy recommends all those items avoided while dieting are good. Fatty sausages, bacon, pizza, kebab, chips, lasagne, fried eggs, jam sandwich, cheese on toast etc if he hates vegetables how about serving up some fruit. wish you both all the best

Hi Netty

Sadly know this route well and what Kathy has suggested is much the way I had to go when my husband was on chemo. (There were two side is our fridge!!) and afterwards. It was almost a day to day challenge depending on how he felt (some days it was just the nutritional drinks (they do soup based ones as well as the sweet varienty) and the dietician we saw at the hospital basically said throw the rule book away and whatever you can eat then do so - sausage rolls, butter in mashed potato, cream added to thick soups, doughnuts, bananas and a never ended supply of chocolate.  If your husband prefers savory (though am well aware chemo changes the taste buds in many (hubby said everything tasted like metal no matter what he ate but he tried so hard to eat what he could without being ill); scotch eggs, sausages and maybe fruit pastries (coissents) peanuts and crisps. When possible he drank whole milk (very often hot on cereas as he said it tasted better and was easier to swallow and porridge which he normally hated). Scrambled eggs with added butter. He had never been a fan of vegetables  but grating cheddar on cauliflower and jacket potatoes worked too.  Little and often (at one point we managed 7 small meals in a day and I almost felt like celebrating) and we kept a container of sweets by his side at all times.  Thinking of you both. Jules

Hi there, I'm recovering from breast cancer and have recently gone back to work. I work for one of the feeding companies as a nurse. The oral supplements can be used to boost food and they also come in a neutral flavour so could be used like milk in mashed potato to add additional calories without affecting taste. I know the mocha ones mixed with whisky make a nice baileys which was very popular with my patients. a

Also the milk shake ones can be frozen to make ice cream. They expire the same as their expiry date on the bottle. The juice ones can make sorbets. Our company makes recipe books and has recipes for scones,pasta ,cakes and meals using the supplement bottles. I can see if I can find you the link if you are interested.??                                                                                                                               Kindest regards pix

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Very much appreciated. 

Had a difficult few days with food. He is really struggling and even the nutritional prescription  drinks don't seem to be agreeing with him. It's as if they are just lying in his stomach instead of passing through easily.He is belching many hours after having them and reporting that he can still taste the drink. I will freeze some a la ice cream and see if he will have them but I think he is off them now because of the belching.  

This time last year I was following my beloved dog around with all sorts of tempting food to try to get her to eat. Husband now says he knows how badgered she felt :(  Trying not to let food become a huge issue but I'm constantly thinking about how to get calories into him as he is now barely 11 stone and at 6'2" that's just so worrying

Netty

Hi Netty

For some reason had missed your last post on this thread!  I can see that a few days have passed since you mentioned his belching but just wanted to mention that this was something my hubby suffered from in the early days of using the prescribed shakes. We spoke to his support team and they recommended making them slighly thinner in the hope they would be easier to digest.  Also not to drink them all down in one go but a few slurps at a time.  Not sure if your husband likes mints but hubby used these quite a bit (as well as jelly babies and fruit drops to help with after taste issues).

I know from experience how difficult it is to switch off from being a food and drink nag (hubby's consultant was more than happy for him to continue with a little alcohol if he felt like it as any calories were a bonus  no matter how they went down!!). It was just so hard, and for me frustrating that I could do nothing to 'make things better'.  Hopefully when the treatment is complete his appetite may return a bit When breathlessness was an issue (gulping air in does not help with the belching issues) he was  given slow breathing techniques to try and help so may be worth mentioning this at his next appointment to see if they have any helpful hints (you may have already done this of course).  Chat again soon. Jules

Dave

xHi Netty,

You've already received lots of good advice, I found that home made thick shakes stayed down the easiest smooth peanut butter, banana, Nutella and whole milk in whatever combination tasted palatable. My taste buds were completely messed up, so we had to experiment. I had lots of fruit juice and liquidised fruit - strawberries and cream make a good smoothie. Jelly and ice cream (Cornish clotted cream) tended to stay down too.

At times I felt I was being force fed soup but it worked and I managed to keep my BMI in the normal range. 

Even at the worst stage of my chemo, I forced myself to walk the dog - wrapped up like an Eskimo as it was mid-Winter. Moving around helped ease digestion - belching isn't a problem for me - far better than suffering from trapped wind! Little and often and not lying or sitting for too long afterwards helped minimise that.

Good luck!

Thanks again for lots of interesting suggestions.  Husband seems to be regaining his appetite a little. Trifle and extra jelly hit the mark this evening as well as a small home made cottage pie with lots of butter in the mash and a chunk of cheese on top for good measure and for those in between meals times a bowl of sweeties sits on his coffee table. Hopefully his weight will now stabilise and Hopefully increase a little. Mind you... I'm not counting my chickens. This evening he was complaining that swallowing was a bit uncomfortable. .. a side effect of the RT which he finished on friday. If it's not one think it's another eh...

:(

Netty

Hi Netty

Know just what you mean.   My husband has mesothelioma in his stomach and after his first chemo was admitted to hospital with infection.   Was very ill for a week with 11 antibiotic drips given and one of blood.   Was warned it would take a while to recover his strength and his 2nd chemo has been delayed for 2/3 weeks until he has built himself up a little.   Therein lies the problem, he is really weak and struggles with our stairs and even moving from chair to sofa and I find myself battling with him to eat as he cannot start his 2nd chemo till he is a bit better.   I feel like a bully but if I do not try to get food into him, I feel he would be happy to eat nothing all day.   It's a nightmare.   I have also found that little and often is best, and the one thing he eats without problem is cereal in the mornings.    Feel your pain Netty - we will have to struggle on in hope

Jean

Hello Jean

I hope you are managing to get Hubby to eat something. What a nightmare... and so easy to allow it to become an issue.

We've been suplimenting his food with fortijuice which we get free on prescription which has helped. We got more bad news earlier this week. His cancer has decided to go walkabout and has taken a trip from his lung to his brain. Himself has been on high dose steroids for the past few days and his chemo (3rd cycle) which should have been on Monday has been put on hold pending getting some RT on the brain mets. The bonus to the steroids is an increase in appetite. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.....

Netty