1. < Lung Cancer

Mom diagnosed with Lung Cancer. Need advice on helping her to eat

Posted by Karyn @kj9, Jun 10, 2020

Hi, I'm pretty new to this group but I've seen the support and help you all give each other and I think it's great. I"m writing today because my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. We are being seen by an oncologist and receiving treatment. Where my sister and I need help is with getting her to eat. to make a long story short, my mother was doing okay until recently when the docs found an arrhythmia and prescribed a blood thinner. Well my mother ate her self up with worry about taking the medicine. She worried so much and she lost a lot of weight. Having lung cancer and losing weight is not a good combination and my problem now is she only eats about 700-900 calories a day. Not enough to gain any weight and certainly not enough sustain yourself. She has always been a petite person but now she is so thin, my sister and are afraid. She doesn't have enough energy to do anything, she's constantly so tired. we try to tell her it's because of lack of nutrition. My sister and I are trying everything to get her to eat enough food in a day. My question is, has anyone experienced this? or have loved one who has gone through this? do you have any suggestions on how to get them eat? open their appetites? what kinds of food might work? I appreciate any thoughts and ideas. My sister and I are at out of our minds with worry. Thank you in advance for your support.

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Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jun 12, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "Hello @merpreb, thank you for your note and sharing your story, I appreciate it very much...." + (show)
@kj9

Hello @merpreb, thank you for your note and sharing your story, I appreciate it very much. My mother has always been wary of taking medications, so her reaction was not surprising. She also later confessed that she had seen friends who were on Blood thinners bleed alot from a small scrap and that scared her more. she is taking an oral medication and no one has said whether or not taht affects your appetite but if it does, it's recent because it hadn't bothered her to this extent before.

I appreciate hearing from everyone, but it sounds like you all are saying that the loss of appetite cannot be reversed? Am I understanding correctly? I know mom is not ready to give up yet...she wants to eat yet, we can't seem to get past the 1000 calories a day mark.
so the not eating more of a conscious choice? I"m just trying to understand and Im scared and worried and I don't know what to do
I'm the oldest daughter and my sister gets scared and panics rather than looking at the situation as, how do address this and what can we do. so many times, I need to be the 'stronger' one and not show the emotion otherwise, my sister falls apart!

Has anyone taken or know of someone who has taken an appetite enhancer? the one that was prescribed is megase (Im not sure I'm spelling it correctly)
thank you all again for your thoughts and feedback. I really appreciate it and it helps me. I hope you will all keep the advice and information coming! a big heartfelt thank you.

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@kj9- I don't believe that loss of appetite can't be reversed. I believe that the reasons for your mom's loss might be due to a combination of things: fear, chemicals form chemo and radiation side-effects. Once she is finished with her treatments her appetite should return. What are her treatments?

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Karyn | @kj9 | Jun 12, 2020

@merpreb, she had about 7 radiation treatments and we are through with that. now she's on oral meds, she takes one pill daily.

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1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jun 12, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "@merpreb, she had about 7 radiation treatments and we are through with that. now she's on..." + (show)
@kj9

@merpreb, she had about 7 radiation treatments and we are through with that. now she's on oral meds, she takes one pill daily.

Jump to this post

@kj9- Radiation can cause a person to lose their appetite. But this also depends on the kind of radiation. Do you know what kind? Has your mom decided not to take her heart meds? Sometimes it's better that she hears things from people other than from family memebers Another question. Perhaps it would help if your mom became memeber on Connect so we could encourage her personally?

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Karyn | @kj9 | Jun 12, 2020

Hmm, I don't recall the type of radiation off the top of my head. I know it was focused. no, she takes all of her meds, she' okay with that. I do think it would be great for her to be a member here. I will sign her up this weekend, and I did mention this group to her and I think she would like that. thank you so much

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1 reply
Mentor
Becky, Volunteer Mentor | @becsbuddy | Jun 12, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist..." + (show)
@kj9

@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist this afternoon from the cancer center. she was drinking Ensure or boost and then she said she didn't like the taste! I like the idea of freezing it like ice cream though, that might work.
do you think she knows what she's doing? i'm not sure, I know she is not ready to give up, but if left on her own, she wouldn't eat at all! she has gotten to the point that she is week and one of her recent blood tests revealed she was a little malnurished!
I"m also working on setting up a call with mom's PCP to see what she thinks - thought sometimes she can be more negative than not. the ONcologist thought the megace or some appetite stimulant is okay to take and would be helpful. I didn't know that about megace, is that a bad thing?

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@kj9. No, megace is not a bad thing . We used it frequently in the hospital

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2 replies
shortshot80 | @shortshot80 | Jun 12, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "Hello @merpreb, thank you for your note and sharing your story, I appreciate it very much...." + (show)
@kj9

Hello @merpreb, thank you for your note and sharing your story, I appreciate it very much. My mother has always been wary of taking medications, so her reaction was not surprising. She also later confessed that she had seen friends who were on Blood thinners bleed alot from a small scrap and that scared her more. she is taking an oral medication and no one has said whether or not taht affects your appetite but if it does, it's recent because it hadn't bothered her to this extent before.

I appreciate hearing from everyone, but it sounds like you all are saying that the loss of appetite cannot be reversed? Am I understanding correctly? I know mom is not ready to give up yet...she wants to eat yet, we can't seem to get past the 1000 calories a day mark.
so the not eating more of a conscious choice? I"m just trying to understand and Im scared and worried and I don't know what to do
I'm the oldest daughter and my sister gets scared and panics rather than looking at the situation as, how do address this and what can we do. so many times, I need to be the 'stronger' one and not show the emotion otherwise, my sister falls apart!

Has anyone taken or know of someone who has taken an appetite enhancer? the one that was prescribed is megase (Im not sure I'm spelling it correctly)
thank you all again for your thoughts and feedback. I really appreciate it and it helps me. I hope you will all keep the advice and information coming! a big heartfelt thank you.

Jump to this post

Hello my name is shortshot/nancy. I am 88 years old and have two kinks of lung cancer diagnosed January 2016. I have Mesothelioma in my left lung and small cell carcinoma in my right lung. There has been a my red of medications, chemo, immune therapy, radiation and Emotions that has occurred over the past four years. Emotions change the way I eat, when I eat and what i eat. i too have lost weight but i'm holding steady for the time being. You can't worry about your mother, what is happening with her will take its toll whether you worry or not. Please be kind and listen to her. Don't suggest anything that does not help. I have four children, three boys and one girl. my daughter is the youngest and is taking care of my finances but at times she is not kind. Nancy

REPLY
2 replies
Mentor
Becky, Volunteer Mentor | @becsbuddy | Jun 12, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist..." + (show)
@kj9

@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist this afternoon from the cancer center. she was drinking Ensure or boost and then she said she didn't like the taste! I like the idea of freezing it like ice cream though, that might work.
do you think she knows what she's doing? i'm not sure, I know she is not ready to give up, but if left on her own, she wouldn't eat at all! she has gotten to the point that she is week and one of her recent blood tests revealed she was a little malnurished!
I"m also working on setting up a call with mom's PCP to see what she thinks - thought sometimes she can be more negative than not. the ONcologist thought the megace or some appetite stimulant is okay to take and would be helpful. I didn't know that about megace, is that a bad thing?

Jump to this post

@kj9. I found this article that might be helpful. It’s on nutrition during cancer care.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer/art-20045046
Also the American Cancer Society has very good information
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/physical-side-effects/eating-problems/poor-appetite.html

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jun 13, 2020
In reply to @shortshot80 "Hello my name is shortshot/nancy. I am 88 years old and have two kinks of lung..." + (show)
@shortshot80

Hello my name is shortshot/nancy. I am 88 years old and have two kinks of lung cancer diagnosed January 2016. I have Mesothelioma in my left lung and small cell carcinoma in my right lung. There has been a my red of medications, chemo, immune therapy, radiation and Emotions that has occurred over the past four years. Emotions change the way I eat, when I eat and what i eat. i too have lost weight but i'm holding steady for the time being. You can't worry about your mother, what is happening with her will take its toll whether you worry or not. Please be kind and listen to her. Don't suggest anything that does not help. I have four children, three boys and one girl. my daughter is the youngest and is taking care of my finances but at times she is not kind. Nancy

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@shortshot80- Oh, Nancy I know what that feels like. It's so awful. Is there anyway that you can talk to your daughter and tell her that her meanness is unacceptable? Perhaps a change of legal responsibilities is in order?

REPLY
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jun 13, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "Hmm, I don't recall the type of radiation off the top of my head. I know..." + (show)
@kj9

Hmm, I don't recall the type of radiation off the top of my head. I know it was focused. no, she takes all of her meds, she' okay with that. I do think it would be great for her to be a member here. I will sign her up this weekend, and I did mention this group to her and I think she would like that. thank you so much

Jump to this post

@kj9- It sounds like SBRT. I've had that twice and it has worked both times. But I didn't have chemo after. What type of lung cancer does your mom have?

REPLY
1 reply
Nancy, Alumna Mentor | @1nan | Jun 13, 2020
In reply to @kj9 "@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist..." + (show)
@kj9

@becsbuddy, HI, thank you for your suggestions. we actually have a call scheduled with a nutritionist this afternoon from the cancer center. she was drinking Ensure or boost and then she said she didn't like the taste! I like the idea of freezing it like ice cream though, that might work.
do you think she knows what she's doing? i'm not sure, I know she is not ready to give up, but if left on her own, she wouldn't eat at all! she has gotten to the point that she is week and one of her recent blood tests revealed she was a little malnurished!
I"m also working on setting up a call with mom's PCP to see what she thinks - thought sometimes she can be more negative than not. the ONcologist thought the megace or some appetite stimulant is okay to take and would be helpful. I didn't know that about megace, is that a bad thing?

Jump to this post

If you try making the drinks into “ice cream “, topping with a small amount of her favorite sundae toppings might help the cause.

REPLY
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