Recovering after infection

[JillT79]

My mum has completed her treatment for small cell lung cancer, about 3 weeks after her radiotherapy finished she took a severe pneumonia and was hospitalised for just over 3 weeks. Her appetite has completely gone as a result and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of this and how and if I can encourage her to start eating again? Her cancer results were looking good prior to this but the infection has really weakened her and now palliative nurses have been introduced and there's concern she may not recover. I feel if she could eat and regain some strength she would definitely improve but I also know the appetite can be the first thing to go. She coped so well with chemo and radiotherapy and the cancer had responded well, it's hard to accept that after all of that she won't recover from an infection.

[KT22]

Hi Jill, when my husbands appetite went he had Aymes high calorie milk shakes prescribed . I used to give him small pots of yoghurt, mousse, ice cream, custard, purée fruit, soup, porridge or scrambled egg. I made sure I only gave him small portions but several times a day. He preferred that & I built his appetite up very gradually.

[JillT79 in reply to KT22]

Thanks for your reply, I've tried all these things with my mum but she just won't ( or can't) eat. I will keep trying and hope for a breakthrough but I worry so much she has already gone almost 4 weeks with little to no food at all. She drinks orange lucozade everyday!

[KT22 in reply to JillT79]

So sorry to hear that, please contact Marie Curie, they are simply amazing & will give you advice. They were the only organisation to give me practical help as opposed to leaflets galore ( McMillan)

[JillT79 in reply to KT22]

Thanks for advice, I will try them x

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hello JillT79, what a set back for your mum having pneumonia but good to hear that she is now home. Appetite loss can have various causes, rule out things like constipation which is common if taking codeine based painkillers. keep meals small and offer food little and often sticking to things that she would like. Palliative care is sometimes called supportive care and the nurses will be able to advise on issues such as weight loss and loss of appetite and they can prescribe supplement drinks which could help to boost your mums appetite. I have added a link to our website which has some advice on loss of appetite.

roycastle.org/how-to-cope-w...

If you would like to speak with someone you can either email us at [e-mail] or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

[JanetteR57]

sorry to read of your mum's weakness after pneumonia. don't give up yet. I had pneumonia in Dec 2016 - 6 years after my lobectomy for lung cancer - and have had similar nasty chest infections that floored me. part of the problem is the limited amount of energy and breathe we have at such times that using the precious breath to chew food/eat can feel counterproductive despite knowing that we need fuel to give us energy. liquid foods are easier to swallow and breathe at such times - soups, shakes, smoothies (especially home made with lots of nutrients) hopefully the palliative nurses will be able to encourage her to eat - sometimes it's the amount of food placed in front of us that's quite overwhelming despite others wanting to hearten/fatten us up! this link may help - Macmillan also has a cookery book available (aimed at all cancers not just lung cancer) that may help . thinking of you. roycastle.org/about-lung-ca...

[JillT79 in reply to JanetteR57]

Thank you so much for replying Janette, I'll have a look at the link you shared. I have spoken with Macmillan nurse today and they are going to put her on a steroid to see if it gives her a wee boost. Hopefully enough to get her eating again and we can build on it from there.

[JanetteR57]

That's good - certainly steroids stimulate the appetite so will keep fingers crossed they do the trick.