Help, extreme weigh loss

 

On 1/30/2008 yosh003 wrote:

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help. My husband had his auto stem cell transplant on 1/10. His hospital course was pretty unremarkable and he came home early, on day 10 post transplant. The problem is he continues to lose lots of weight. He has lost about 30 pounds in 2 and 1/2 weeks. He is eating, but he looks skinnier to me from night to morning and this is confirmed by the scale. Docs don't have much to say, I am worried about the myeloma.

Any suggestions/ideas about what is wrong or what to do would be greatly appreciated.

Carolynn

Carolynn:

 Try juicing (fresh fruits and vegetables).  I went through that with my mom and fresh juices go right into the bloodsteam.  Whatever you do, keep him away from sugar!  Sugar feeds cancer...it has been proven.  Everything you eat has sugar in it...artificial and natural.  Try the juicing or some of those sugar free boost and energy drinks. 

Godd luck and take care of yourself.

 

 

 

 

On 1/30/2008 yosh003 wrote:

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help. My husband had his auto stem cell transplant on 1/10. His hospital course was pretty unremarkable and he came home early, on day 10 post transplant. The problem is he continues to lose lots of weight. He has lost about 30 pounds in 2 and 1/2 weeks. He is eating, but he looks skinnier to me from night to morning and this is confirmed by the scale. Docs don't have much to say, I am worried about the myeloma.

Any suggestions/ideas about what is wrong or what to do would be greatly appreciated.

Carolynn

You have provided limited information however,

I am a dietitian

Yes sugar feeds cancer cells as well as the other cells in our bodies.

Whether you eat sugar or starch, when it hits your blood it is SUGAR.

At this time, the most critical nutrients to get are in order fluids, calories and protein along with electrolytes vites and minerals.

Whey protein drinks are great whether you purchase them ready made or make them yourself.  A multivite - one a day type is appropriate.

Recipe:

basic - 1 cup milk, 1 cup ice cream, 1 "scoop" protein powder , I prefer the flavored ones, think Walmart, Safeway etc.

You can add fruits, yogurt, flavorings for variety.  4 of these will provide about 1800 to 2000 calories a day and will put weight on may folks

For variety use juice (YES JUICE with all its SUGAR

Continuing with the previous - I guess I hit a key which sent it before I was ready

Juice 1 cup w/ sherbet 1/2 c, a scoop of whey powder

Variety and flavors you like are important.  You can add fruit or whatever you take a whim to add. 

With mouth sores, anything acidic may hurt so be careful.

Try to keep eating anything else you may like to try but this can put on weight.  You do want to know if there is any malabsorption going on as this may have a major effect on ability to gain wt.  If you can keep track of intake, using calorie and protein info from pkg or try using "mypyramid.gov" and obtain it  from there.

Do not use this info without letting your treatment team know what you are doing so they can eval how it is working and let you know if any adjustments are needed for any particular problems that may be occurring.  You may want to be sure there has not been an onset of diabetes - yes it has been known to occur. 

If weight loss continues iv nutrition may be indicated, again check with your treatment team.  It does come with some risks and special needs to be tended to. 

Your nutrition treatment should be guided and further evaluated to be customized as your needs indicate; the information in this and the preceding mail are general recipes to try and do not allow for any other intolerance which may be occurring.  If it creates probelms, don't continue with it.  It also assumes no lactose intolerance, other intolerances or allergies.

I hope you find this helpful.

Hi Carolynn!  You have some great help here, particularly from wylieadmin and clouise!!  I spoke about your situation with my oncology dietitian and she agrees with all of what these writers have said.  I raised the question of sugar and her reply was similar to louise, SUGAR feeds all of the cells in our bodies.  Restricting sugar at this stage is totally wrong -- he needs it for energy and to help him to gain weight, along with the protein, etc.  Take heed of the positive advice you have here and confirm it with your own medical team.  Encourage him to eat anything you can -- sweet, high protein, carbs, etc. and help him to gather strength to face his next battle.  The stronger he is the higher the prognosis that he can survive.  Radically changing the diet at this stage, from my uneducated perspective, would be totally wrong.  I don't know about your oncology department, but here the first thing that they do before EVERY visit is to weigh me.  As long as I maintain or gain weight then all is well, but if I've lost...the the first conversation is about why and how we can encourage me to regain!!  It takes presidence over everything else -- its that important!!    Good luck to you Carolynn -- it won't happen quickly, but it is possible ... one bite at a time!!  Cath

Hi Carolynn,

I can't tell you what is wrong, but I can tell you what we did when my husband had this problem.  My husband also lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time.  Although he was eating he was eating much smaller portions.  After a 40 pound weight loss his oncologist put him on Megace, which has helped the problem, it stimulates your appetite.  He hasn't gained his weight back, but he hasn't lost any more weight either.

Hope this helps.

 Candy

i think i am the only person to gain weight after a SCT. in fact, i gained 40 pds in 6 month, so now i am deiting. this how i did it.

no fruit eat salad for your fiber...fruit will only remind the patient of the SCT and make him sick to his stomach. when you recieve your stem cells back through your portal, you get a fruity taste in your mouth and after that you will start to vomit.

you dont lose your taste but it does beome dull so eat food with a kick. for example, i must ate a ton of hot wings and spicy fries from applebees. i also added jalapenos [like bake potatoes] and hot sauce to everything i ate.

i ate a lot steaks because steak tasted the same.

i ate a lot of cookie dough ice cream with carmal topping.

i ate a lot of salads with a lot of blue cheese topping because cheese tasted the same.

find foods that taste the same before the SCT and stick with it until your taste return.

foods that taste wrong add something to give it a kick that way you taste what you are eating.

if you worry about nutrition take vitiman pill.

i ate a lot of fatty foods because it tasted close to normal but do not over do it because you be dieting later.