Thank you to all who responded to the excess mucous question.

The week prior to the chemo/radiation treatment starting my husband put on at least five pounds because we knew he would lose alot. So of course he lost those five pounds quickly. He is finishing his third week. The first week in the hostipal he ate like he was starving. The second week the first two days he was eating regular food but then went to 6 Ensure Plus a day. The radiation doctor told him he if he took in 2100 calories a day he would be fine. Last week he lost four pounds. If you include the five pounds he had put on the week before he started, the total is 13 pounds. The doctor is weighing him every day now and sounding like he doesn't believe he is drinking 2100 calories of Ensure. He probably is thinking feeding tube. I have been adding 3 T of whipping cream to each bottle and bringing his total intake to 3000 a day.

He is upset that the doctor would say he doesn't believe him. We think he needs more calories because he started off with a lot of muscle. Up until about three weeks before treatment he was bike riding 120 miles on the weekends and sometimes during the week.

How could the doctor believe that 2100 calories would be enough for every person. At least every adult male.

Is your husband being seen by a dietician, as well? They seem best at dealing with nutrition issues. While he was in treatment (chemo and radiation) my husband's dietician did a pretty extensive metabolism testing procedure - to figure out exactly what his calorie needs were. They put him on a 3000 calorie diet. He couldn't manage to get that many calories until he finally gave in to the PEG tube - about 5 weeks into treatment (he had gone from 155 lbs to 118). Made things much easier.

Best wishes,
Anita

Sounds low to me. They had me on 5 cans Ensure Plus a day and I'm a 120 lb female.

Besides increasing his calorie intake, he should also make certain that he continues to get some exercise as long as he is able to so he doesn't lose all that muscle. You may find that he reaches a period near the end of radiation and for a while after that he will not have the energy to exerise. Walking at least helps.

If you search the board, you will find some recipes for some shakes that are around 1300 calories. At the end of treatment whne swallowing may become difficult, the more calories per swallow, the easier it is to maintain weight.

Take care,
Eileen

My husband was on 6 cans of Nutren 2.0 which has 500 calories a can. It seems most males need at least 3000 calories to maintain weight. Dan didn't get more than 4 cans in most of the time as he also had problems with fullness and acid reflux, so he still lost 50 lbs. I think you need to talk to a nutritionist if you haven't already.
God bless and take care,
Debbie

I agree more calories should be considered. I went to about 2100 a day also and lost 20 lbs. I lost about 3lbs a week. I continued to lift weights during my radiation in the upper body and lost most of the weight in my lower body which I was not lifting weights in. In hindsite I should have taken in more calaries, continued lifting in my lower body. The only other issue was I had a hard time taking in the 2100 calaries. Not sure if I would have benn able to take in much more. So if he can give it to him assuming you don't want to loose much weight.

I was meticulous in making sure I took in at least 2200 calories a day, and still lost 43 pounds. Without a PEG, it was difficult to swallow that many calories. I'd say 3000 a day is more like it , but I too would encourage you to speak with a nutritionist. My nutritionist also offered a prescription for ProSure, a 600 calorie version of Ensure. It was only available in 2 flavors, Vanilla and Banana. The vanilla made me wretch, the banana was pretty decent. (remember now that my taste buds were pretty wacked out ) Exercise is also important to prevent muscle loss. I eventually found myself reduced to the cable channel exercise program for old folks, you know, the old girl who does all the exercises with a chair. Just that little bit of movement every day helped to maintain some muscle tone, and I'm sure helped iin my recovery. I've started running again, and I'm up to 3 miles already

Good Health

Chuck

hey there,

just to echo what others have wrote,
i'm about 185 lbs and while on rad&chemo
my intake was 2800 cal/day. which continued for months after treatment. my weight remained relatively constant.

during that period, i realy needed lots of cals.
encourage your husband to take as many as he can and keep the fluid intake up too.

best wishes,
larryb

After losing 70 lbs (216 to 145) I upped my calories to about 4000 for several weeks. I ate prime rib, whole milk, milk shakes, etc., as often as I could. It took forever to get the weight back on, from March to August. I am now holding at 180.

Ed

Hi, My husband went from 170 down to 126 by the time his treatment ended in January 2004. He never had a feeding tube and could never eat anything but thick liquids and he still is on this diet. I read that a sick person needs 3000 to 3500 calories and 100 grams of protein a day. I make him three drinks using ensure plus, whey protein powder, instant breakfast and ice cream which is about 800 calories. I have an excellent blender call vita mix which liquifies chicken. I cook him eggs in the morning and put it in this blender with protein powder and milk. He also drinks fruit nectar for breakfast. For dinner he has chicken stock with carrots, celery and chicken. sometimes I put in some potato or sweet potato. At night he has a lighter drink, sometimes just a milk shake. he has gained 24 pounds in since May. We are so happy that he has finally started to gain. Eileen

Sure sounds like he is eating enough. Thats alot of intake in one day. We are all different and so are our needs. I was 145 lbs. precancer weight and lost 30 lbs. in two weeks after the surgery. I got it back to above 140 but am having trouble keeping it there. Those smoothies
get a little old after a month or two. Trying to eat orally and have to make myself eat. It is a hassle.
Seeing a dietician sounds like the best advice anyone can give you.

Best Wishes, Danny Boy