My father had his mandilblectomy 6/13. He was released from the hospital yesterday. He is always feeling sick and vomiting. So he is refusing to do a feeding or take water. He has not had water or food for the last 10 hours. When do I need to force him or take him back to the hospital if I cannot force him?

Keleigh what is stopping him eating? Is it the nausea? Or pain? Both are treatable medically, the doctors can help with that. Ask him what he wants to do, he has to get some calories down sometime.

He simply refuses. It is like he has already given up. I just do not know what to do. He says the feedings and water are making him sick but he needs them to gain strength so he can heal.

He is being admitted to the hospital again. His feeding tube is infected. He has a fever of 101, pus, redness, vomiting. Chills. He also fell this morning from being so weak. He tried to hide that piece of information.

Im so sorry to hear this! He must feel terrible!

I was admitted a couple times for malnutrition and dehydration. I was certain I was in the process of dying. It took me a few days before I began to feel better.

Being a caregiver for a stubborn patient is not easy! At some point, the patient MUST take some responsibility for their own care. Its not fair to the caregiver for the patient to be 100% dependent upon them for everything.

The daily intake must be at the very least 2500 calories and 48-64 oz of water. This is the bare minimum! OC patients can take many more calories daily without gaining anything. Their bodies have been thru so much that calories are burned up at an incredible rate. For any patient who is struggling with their intake during recovery, they should push themselves to take in at least 3500 calories daily.

Here is a recipe for something I used to make and drink when I went thru treatments. The list of foods might help too, they mostly have a smoother texture and arent spicy which should be easier to tolerate.

Easy to Eat Food List

(All measurements are estimates)

Giant High Calorie Choc-Peanut Butter Milkshake

3 or 4 cups chocolate ice cream (regular/full fat type)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth type)
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 or 2 cups whole milk (can substitute half and half to add even more calories)
1 scoop carnation instant breakfast
1 scoop high protein whey powder (check with doc if this is ok)

Blend this extra long to make it very smooth and creamy so it goes down easier. If the shake is too thick, add more milk to thin it down to what works best for you.


Best wishes!!!

Is he not eating because he feels nauseous? Do talk to the doctors about it. There is medication that can alleviate the nausea. It is important to keep the insertion site of the PEG clean. He should be changing the dressing and cleaning the site everyday. Ask the nurses at the hospital to show you how it should be done. John does a saline soak of the site three times a day and covers it with a barrier cream called ProShield Plus. Then he puts a drainage sponge (a dressing with a slit in it) on it.

He cannot keep anything down because he is vomiting constantly. He was admitted to the hospital 5 miles from home last night. He was refused help there when he found out he had cancer so he hates that hospital. He is now demanding to be released so he can go to the hospital that did his surgery, 3 hours away. I cannot do this.

One option is to Baker Act him for 3 days and keep him there.

Keleigh whatever works. If he needs to go to a particular hospital or eat a particular food or drink, you have to accommodate as best you can. Remember its extremely frustrating for the patient as well. Every time he tries to eat something he loses it, it quickly gets to the point he will get scared of eating.

He must know in his own mind he needs to eat to survive. If he doesn't come up with an answer he'll get one he doesn't like, the PEG tube up the nose which introduces a whole new set of problems.

I can't speak for your Dad but in my case I was facing the PEG and it scared the hell out of me. I knew if I didn't get those Resource drinks down I was never going to hold weight and the PEG was inevitable. The fear of the PEG drove me to force down those drinks, and I adjusted the meds until I could keep them down.

The practicalities of which hospital is and isn't suitable will work itself out. He will have some practicalities forced upon him by doctors, but the most important battles are in his own head, and I found that to be the toughest battle of all.

Stick with it, you are doing an amazing job!

Pain meds like oxycodone made me vomit, still does. Had anti-nausea meds, but it was a viscous cycle. After I vomit I do not want to eat for hours, and had a peg tube too. The tube infection has to be cleared up with appropriate meds wether it be for a fungal or bacterial infection, and kept clean, as Tammy mentioned. I was prescribed Bactrim ointment for a bacterial infection, and clotrimizole ointment for fungal infection, difficult to differentiate. What cleared it last time was IV antibiotics for pneumonia I was on. You don't want it to go systemic.

Good luck