I know from personal experience how distressing this is for both of you. The oncologist initially told my husband to eat as much protein as possible and suggested this may prevent the fluid accumulating quite so quickly. Another time we were told food rich in potassium e.g. bananas would be beneficial.
Also, we were advised that a high intake of calories would help keep his strength up - "eat as much junk food as you can", so after the chemotherapy when he regained a little of his appetite, he drank energy drinks, ate doughnuts, chocolate bars, crisps
Hope this helps - the oedema is very frightening, we'd never heard of it before.