On 3/10/2008
VickiR wrote:
My father, who is 67, had a Whipple's operation in the UK in December, which was pronounced 'a success'. His surgeon managed to remove the bile duct cancer and we were very optimistic. Unfortunately, my dad is having problems eating. Some days he will eat nothing at all. He is very weak. My brother had to carry him to bed yesterday. He says he is anxious about eating as it brings on severe stomach pains and he is often, but not always, sick as a result. He now weighs 8 stone 6 pounds and this is dropping. The doctors have now said that he is too weak to withstand the chemotherapy he was to have undergone.
My brother rang yesterday to say that he thinks that he may not have long to live. I just don't believe that in 2008, someone has to die of malnutrition, especially as the cancer has been cut away. Does anyone out there have experience of such dramatic weight loss, stomach pains and lack of appetite? What foods did people find palatable, and can anyone recommend a diet that would help in building my father up?
Many thankns for reading my post,
Vicki
Hello Vicki,
Read your father's story. After such a huge operation, it is very difficult to eat. Everything inside your body is messed about and shocked, including your stomach and intestines.
Getting him to gain weight, is letting him eat little bits, every hour and if possible every half hour. A piece of banana, half a boiled egg, a little bit of chicken soup, one cracker with a not too sugary jam, homemade applesauce. When this is working, you can add small, light meals. It worked with my husband. He is eating allmost normal now (no meat, but the cancer couldnot be removed) and he gained his lost 10 kilo's weight back.
Good luck and all the best for your dad, you and your family.
Iris.