Posted By: stumble He won't eat anything - 08-15-2009 06:58 PM
My husband has 10 radiation treatments to go and I brought him home for the weekend. The nutritionist told me to keep track of what he ate and sent 6 cans of Endure home with us. I feel like a failure because he has been unable to eat anything I make. I made a milkshake with 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream, 2 raw eggs, a cup of chocolate soy milk and a lot of instant breakfast. It tasted great to me but it burned his mouth.

All he will eat at the Tampa VA nursing home is mashed potatoes and gravy.

He refused to get a PEG and has just recently agreed to a pickline since he needs an IV every night to aid his kidneys in flushing the amifostine.

This is so frustrating. What can I feed him when he comes home on the weekends? I think they may stop weekend home visits since I am unable to feed him.
Posted By: davidcpa Re: He won't eat anything - 08-15-2009 07:19 PM
Listen this Tx is really tough and it's normal for him to find discomfort when trying to swallow but without the Peg HE MUST CONTINUE TO GET HYDRATION AND CALORIES or he will end up much much worse.

The idea now is to have him spend the least amount of time getting the most calories he can into his body and one way is to get him Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC which has 560 cals in a small 8 oz can. I could only drink them room temp and all he has to do is drink 5 or 6 of those a day to get the cals he needs. You can get them over the internet or from the pharmacy depts of places like Walgreen or CVS. You don't need a prescription.

Other than that there is a nasal feeding tube that is relatively simple to get put in (non surgical) and is meant for temporary situations just like this.

MOST IMPORTANT, HE MUST GET HIS CALORIES (2500 to 3000) AND WATER (48ozs)EACH AND EVERY DAY.
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