hi all,

i'm in l.a. with my sister who came home 2 days ago from a second round of chemo at the hospital.

it's day 5 since end of this round. she's having nausea and diarrhea for which she's taking reglan and peptobismol. she's been eating less than 2 cans of Isocal (Ensure type thing) per day through the peg tube. that's about 450 calories. she's getting hydrated through iv. she's down to 95 lbs (lost 6 lbs since chemo, 20 since beginning of treatment).

she's going back for another round of chemo in less than 2 weeks and we're wondering how she's going to pull through if this trend continues. the nutrition therapist at the hospital also said this was a serious concern but had no concrete suggestions. her oncologist thinks she's not yet at a stage to require TPN feeding and so we shouldn't expose her to the risks of that.

my sister has had a PEG tube since february (can't believe she's gone this long without eating through the mouth). she has very sore mouth and throat and has stopped even drinking the little bit of water through the mouth that she did before chemo.

questions:

1- is what she's experiencing "mormal"? how long does it take for nausea and diarrhea to pass after a chemo treatment?

2- any suggestions re getting more calories into her? does anybody have experience mixing other high-cal supplements with Isocal or Ensure? or,

3- any higher-cal products to use instead of these two so she can get more calories in as much volume?

thanks for your advice.

good thoughts, healing and peace.

gita