Hi all,

I've been reading these forums since cancer entered the family and it's been so helpful so far. Thank you CRUK and everyone that contributes.

We recently found out my dad has cancer. It's in his bowel, lungs and liver and has spread too far (and they think he's too elderly) for any treatment. Obviously it's devastating news.

We are looking after him at home as best we can. However one of the side effects we're experiencing is that he is completely unable to have food or drink. I wanted to get some advice, because the exact problems he's having seem unusual. He can swallow fine, isn't usually sick and wants to eat and drink (has an appetite, of sorts). However, drinking (or even just looking at food) is making him feel incredibly naseous and his whole body reacts with retching. It's awful to see - it's a full upper body reaction, with the same motion as when you are going to be sick, but he just isn't. Often this goes on for several minutes. It must be absolutely exhausting for him and it prevents him from having any kind of serious intake of liquids. 

We are very worried about this. It's been several weeks since he's had any food and some days, he can barely take in liquid. I would estimate he's having about 30 calories / day. As you can imagine, he's losing weight incredibly fast.

Obviously he isn't going to live forever at this stage, but this is so awful to see I just wanted to know if anyone had any advice. We have talked to doctors and nurses but they ask if he's in pain (he isn't) and prescribe meds, which he can't have because of the problems described above. We just don't know how to get him food or even a full glass of milk. If anyone has any advice or has had a similar situation, we would be really grateful to hear from you.

Thank you,

Ros