My husband has finished his 4th week of radiop/chemo but hasn't been able to keep anything down for about the last 5days. We spent the day at the hosp getting rehydrated with IV's. He's tried compazine/zofran/and suppositories for the vomiting. When he puts anything but gatorade in his peg tube he vomits. He's down 30 lbs. with over 3 weeks to go. Any suggestions appreciated.

I lost over 60 lbs. myself. At least he can drink Gatorade! I had to be rehydrated a few times myself - once in the ER until I got smart and had it done in infusion instead - MUCH faster and far more comfortable. Talk to the nutrionist and the MO. Is he taking any anti-acids?

You can't make it on Gatorade, this has zero nutritional value. I would be checking with the GI doctors for solutions. It may be that he will have to have the tube relocated into his intestine, or they may have other options. Bottom line is that he cannot be allowed to continue losing weight. With three more weeks of treatment to go, and several weeks after treatmnet ends where he will still be unable to take things to any significant extent by mouth, he will be introuble if this continues.

Hi Deborah.

I'm sorry your husband is having a hard time, but take some comfort that MANY MANY of us were there ourselves and got "through" it.

For me, a combination of Emend and Zofran worked wonders. You might also try giving liquid nutrition at different times of the day and/or at various SMALLER intervals.

Remember that the human mind can play a big role too (not suggesting here that he is included in this group), but I know that emotions and phyche played a role in my nausea sometimes too.

I know also that heartburn was a MAJOR factor in my nausea and overall discomfort so be sure and monitor that.

Can he take ANYTHING (even water) by mouth at this point?

Thank you so much for your input, he had to miss one day of treatment, but he went today, and is feeling better, they increased his patch to 100mg and added ativan to the compazine suppositories, got him a machine to get rid of mucous. It was good you asked about his antacid, when I asked he said he stopped because he couldnt swallow the pills, same with the other pill he was suppose to continue, so that definitely contributed to the problem. So with the new patch today he has been able to swallow some water and even a few bites of ice cream. Hooray, I was getting really worried.

Sometimes we look for a complicated solution when it may be very simple. I mentioned anti-acids because chemo does a number on the stomach lining, causing major heartburn.

The doctors usually set the weight loss limit at 20 lbs. They start to panic when it exceeds that. They were really freaked out by my weight loss (the RO anyway - the MO didn't seem quite as freaked). They probably thought I had cachexia for sure- but I fooled 'em. I put 30 lbs. back on - went from a 34" to 30" waist and my wife loves it.

Brian, I never to imply that anyone could survive on Gatorade ;-)

Gary - the post was in response to the title of this thread, not your comments. Clearly the Gatorade thing is obvious to you. Achem's (Occam's) Razor certainly applies in many situations, and it certainly has as developments in this thread demonstrate.

Hi Debraht-
Does your husband have a PEG tube? If so- try to give him a few flushes with water a few times a day. Also see about a Kangaroo Pump. I wish you both the best!

Deboraht - I live by my peg tube. Encourage him to grind his meds and dissolve them in water and pour them into the tube. I do it daily. Two table spoons make a good grinder, most pharmacies have pill crushers for sale. Antacids really helped with my vomiting. They can pour right into the peg. Tom