Alicia,

I actually had this reaction to cisplatin after my second round of chemo and was admitted to the hospital for a week and given several transfusions to correct the problem, which finally did and I was able to finish my last round of chemo and the rest of my rads.

Your dad needs iron and due to the metabolic reactions from cancer, treatments, and emotional stress his body isn't absorbing nutrients like it should be. When the bodies immune response is activated, the triggers responsible for activating the immune system also inhibit digestion and absorption. This is further complicated by the emotional response to having cancer and going through treatment, which elevates the bodies cortisol levels. Cortisol counteracts Insulin, also leading to digestion and absorption issues so when you are looking at a cancer patient in treatment, you almost have to think of them like a diabetic.

With that being said, would you feed a diabetic high fructose corn syrup? Would you give them a nutritional supplement that (isolate vitamins and minerals) the body has a very difficult time absorbing and causes the liver to work harder? That's what happens when you're relying on these meal replacements to deliver nutrition to a cancer patient due to what they are made of. They are also horribly low in protein (15% generally) a macro nutrient the body of a cancer patient needs a lot of due to the immune response increased need for amino acids during treatment.

Your dad needs easily absorbed iron, pure Cacao powder that you can pick up in any supermarket is one of the best sources of easily digestible iron you can find having 1.8mg of iron per tablespoon of cocao powder, or 10% of the DV. Personally I'd break out your blender and start blending meals for him that are high in good fats like flaxseed oil (extremely high in Omega 3 fatty acids that help with insulin resistance among many other benefits), fresh greens, fruits, high uptake protein powder like Whey, and cacao powder and water.

Keep your chin up, hope that helps.