Hi there,
I wonder if any of you can advise me. My hubby underwent radical neck dissection and 33 treatments of radiation. He finished radiation 8 weeks ago, but since initial treatment, and mainly during the last weeks and after treatment he has lost a drastic 14kg. He is sooo skinny, he's lost all muscle tone, his ribs are sticking out, and he has absolutely no energy. His eating habits are not too bad really, he has a lot of milk and manages to eat small amounts quite regularly, but he is still losing weight. We visited his GP who informed us that he probably won't start to come good until about 3 months after radiation. I am just so worried about him, but is this normal. He is drinking quite a bit, because of loss of saliva, so I don't think he could be dehydrated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm making him lots of milk drinks to try and boost his weight, but not much seems to be working at present. Help please!!

Hi Susie,
welcome to the site. For many of us severe weight loss is a reality. I dropped over 60 lbs. myself. Many here have lost weight even with PEG tubes. He should be seeing a nutritionist weekly. Weight loss occurs when the input calories are less the the burn rate. I am 29 months post Tx now and have gained much of the weight back. I was disabled for over a year because of weakness and fatigue issues. The treatment is pretty drastic and it takes a long time to recover from it.

Hello Susie

Like your husband and Gary, I lost a huge amount of weight. I had the same treatment as your husband with no feeding tube. Whatever I ate didn't seem to affect my weight initially but 27 months after I have regained much that I lost.

Your husbands blood will have been affected by radiation and that also will make him weak.

I assume that he is having Hospital Sustagen with fibre (or similar) every day to keep up his nutrients. I still have it now because my diet is restricted owing to lack of saliva.

The American Cancer Society web site has recipe suggestions to tempt patients and help increase nutrient intake. I found it very helpful.

Your husbands recovery is very similar to mine and I am now doing fine.

Best wishes to you both, love from Helen

Does your husband have a peg tube? My brother used a protien shake called "SERIOUS MASS" after it was recommended by a nutritionalist. We bought it online. It did a wonderful job of helping him maintain his weight. He lost from 275 to 175 before we found it. Once he started it his weight stabilized for about 7 months. He probably lost 10 more right before his death, but it was great, high protien, high calorie stuff.

Hello Susie, I could not seem to gain any weight until about two years out. I would eat any and everything I could. I did not continue to loose any weight once the treatments stopped. Hopfully he will turn the corner soon. Have him record exactly what he eats each day for a week and verify that he is getting enough calories in. 2500 calories eaten should stop any further loss of weight. Anything less than 2500 calories might not be enough because his body is busy repairing itself (and using more than the usual amount of calories) Also be sure he is getting added fat and protein as well as vitamin rich foods.

Hi Susie,
If after taking Mark's suggestion you find that he is getting enough calories and protein to sustain his weight, you might want to have his thyroid checked. If not fucntioning at whatever 'his normal' levels are, this can cause fatigue and weight loss, amongst many other things. Make certain they run a full thyroid panel and check his TSH levels from before he had the rads.

Take care,
Eileen

I second Mark's post. You need to be keeping a daily food intake log and tracking calories. He has to hit a minimum intake goal each day, be it cans of Ensure or semisolid foods. He has to get proteins and amino acids. Get him on Blender drinks made with whey protein powder, ice cream and more. If you don't have a daily log and goal, it is very easy to slip into the below 1000 calorie a day issue when everything taste like cardboard and there is no enthusiasm for eating. Read the labels, weigh the food, know exactly what's being consumed. Log it, count it, and meet the daily goal.

Susie,
Count me in with the calorie counters. I lost nearly fifty pounds over the course of events, and didn't stem the weight loss until I set up a "white board" on my refrigerator door on which I recorded everything that went into my mouth. Initially I was shooting for 2000 calories and 2 litres of fluid per day, but probably due to the increased metabolic rate, continued losing until I upped the intake to 2500 calories. It was quite the challenge, as I did it without a peg tube, but absolutely essential to prompt recovery. I just can't imagine that the body can be very efficient at healing itself if it is expending energy devouring itself.
The whiteboard also allowed my wife to monitor my intake and badger, cajole, nag etc. until I met the daily quota (God bless her!! )

After being overweight most of my life, it was some turn of events to be counting calories to be sure I was getting enough. Try it. I'm sure you'll see improvement.

Good Health,

Chuck

Hi there everyone, and thankyou for your posts.
Hubby never had a peg tube, never needed one really, as he went through rad okay, until the 10 days or so, when the doctors discovered they had made a mistake in his radiation plan. They had actually attached the boulous to the wrong side of his mask, and therefore had to catch up 7 weeks of radiation in 10 days. That's when he started to lose weight. We will start counting calories now to see how he goes, thankyou for all your welcome advice. Hopefully he will stablizie soon. One moment we think he has stabilized for a couple of days, then low and behold, he loses weight again. But anyway, we're on to the Ensure for the last week, and he seems to be eating a lot better since reading a lot of posts on this site. Thank god for all you good people out there. God bless you all, and good health. Susie

Hi Susie I ahve just finished RT single 41, live alone was 97kgs now 82kgs and have been stable on that for 2 weeks.

I had a neck dissection and to be honest had 6 weeks to eat boy eat! and boy I did all the rubbish you could of thought of

I had a blip in my plan had to beg them to insert a NG tube in 4 weeks into my 7 week RT sessions but it did save me and gave me fluids and feed. I should of had a PEG but turned it down, with the benefit of hindsight eh!

I am now 80kgs ish have been off the NGT for 2 days and building up calories daily, finding things I like etc.

I have been overweight since I 20 but now like to look I have even if no clothes fit that well. Trying this week to bulk up food and not expend to much energy to allow recovery to take place.

I have a blender and juicer and found that melon and carrot juice are real winners!