On 7/16/2008
Kiwi07 wrote:
Kia Ora from New Zealand, My Dad has just been diagnosed with Bile Duct Cancer, he is 56 and has 6 loving children, my youngest brother is 6 and I am 38! We have been trying to understand this terrible disease and get our heads around what it all means. Its been 3 months since we were first told and since then it has been a rollercoatser - at times we have been given false hopes and Dad had surgery- but unfortunatly they were unable to remove the cancer and found that it has spread to his lymph node by his heart. we are still waiting for the next step - apparently chemo. During the waiting period my Dad - who has never been sick before now and is a fit strong and hardworking man is now reduced to the couch with little energy and unable to eat much. His appetitie is gone and as he finds it hard to sleep he is losing energy each day. My question is where do I find help with trying to feed him foods that will support & nurture him.
My Dads is the strongest man I know and I still find it unbelievable that this is actually happening, I am hoping to find out how I can help him through this journey he is now on.
I am very sorry to hear about your Dad. This is such a terrible disease and it is almost allways discovered too late. My husband (now 62) also has bile duct cancer and surgery was not possible. We are a year later from when he was diagnosed. So instead of the 2-3 months prediction of lifetime we had, it is more than a year now. It looks like he is slowly going down now.
He too had the eating problem. But he very much wanted to keep his former strength, so he started eating little bits, every half hour. Some small fruit, a boiled egg, half cups of homemade soup, things like that. After two weeks he started eating more and in 2 months time he regained the 10 kilo's weight he lost.
Maybe this is an idea for your dad. Let him eat the things he like, in little bites, but often.
I wish you and your family all the strength you will need and hope that your dad, like my husband, will have more time.
Iris (the Netherlands).