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

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

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

Hi Jean,

Picked up on your post as my husband had pleural mesothelioma of the lung linings and can really relate to how you are feeling regarding trying to ensure they eat even when they are not interested.  Little and often worked for my hubby and his consultant said concentrate on high calorie fats (all the things we are told we should avoid!!!) so introduced full fat milk shakes, butter in sloppy mashed potato and double cream into thick soups as well as leaving a 'picking basket' of snacks by his chair which he used to dip into from time to time (often encouraged by our grandson whom he found harder to say no too!). Chatting on the forum gave me some good ideas at the time too. Take care of youself too.Regards Jules

Hi Netty

So sorry to hear that, I do hope that the results you are waiting for are positive for you both.     Foodwise here has slightly improved today.   Have made potato hash with carrots, swede onions and mince, all chopped very small.which he actually not only ate but enjoyed.   Would be happy for him to have every day if necessary.   Am expecting results of a blood test he had Friday to see if there is a problem there which is causing his weakness.   The clinic are ringing me tomorrow so everything crossed at the moment.   They have also mentioned increasing his steroids so was interested to see that this had improved your busband's appetite.   We must just keep battling through Netty, all my best wishes go with you 

Hi Jules

Your comment about leaving snacks to hand rings true, I left a small bar of chocolate within reach of him  today not expecting him to eat it but he did,  almost without thinking.   Maybe this will work more than my 'nagging'   Thanks too for your other suggestions, will give it a try

Jean

Hi Jean

Hope the blood test results  give you both some answers which can help with any treatment he might need.

The 'nagging' about food was a great worry for me and frustrating for us both. My husband said that  It was not that he did not want to eat but just had no appetite, taste buds shot by the chemo and no interest in food so a day to day effort to find something to 'tickle his fancy' wore us both down. The dietician explained that the extreme fatigue also played its part (he sometimes slept more than he was awake so difficult to keep calorie intake up). She recommended offering foods that were previously disliked and it was a surprise how many 'tasted ok'. My hubby even had days that were 'cake filled' - mini doughnuts, jam tarts and choc mini rolls to name but a few. We operated a his and hers fridge for many months. Wishing you the strength to cope day to day.Jules

Hi there

I can't believe our local hospital or district nurses have messed up my husbands blood test somehow.   The chemo sister has had a partial result, but not a full one as the hospital say  they 'did not have the correct sample?'   I thought blood was blood !   Am so annoyed as he has had so many needles this past month due to his infection and antibiotic drips that the district nurse had a job to get the sample in the first place.  OK, rant over.    On a more positive note, both our GP and the chemo nurse have said that his cholestrol is too low so they have taken him off the daily statin tablet he has been on for years.   Apparently this too low cholestrol can cause weakness in the arms and legs, so our chemo nurse is ringing us back Friday to hopefully see if there is any mobility improvement.   I dearly hope so - All my best to you all.   Jean

Hi Jean

Really sorry to read that  you have been let down by the system again, somewhere along the line. It must be totally frustrating. I can only think that perhaps the wrong 'coded' tubes were used when taking blood samples (our local hospital has a colour coded system depending on what kind of 'test results' are called for). It seems good news that the chemo nurse and your GP has picked up on the fall in cholesterol and taken necessary action to help with this. Will be hoping you both get more positive new when they follow up on Friday. Jules