fred

[kennyliston]

My husband had his op on 5th Dec he has had a couple of chest infections and is in hospital at the moment. His feeding tube was removed a week ago but he doesn't like the bottles of feed he is advised to take. his appetite is not great at the moment so any advice on how to improve his diet will be very welcome

[Mentalmicky6]

It's very early days after such a big op, it took ages in my case to start eating, you just have to stay positive and be patient, all the best.

[Zantri]

Kennyliston,

I too had issues but not after my operation it was after radiation therapy. I was in pain, felt sick and had no appetite. I could manage mash and soups but that was it and I hated (and still do) the nutrient drinks. I had a few issues and ended up back in hospital twice as I was very dehydrated, but eventually it got easier and this last week I have put on 0.7kg which is a major achievement for me. So try every sloppy food going,and stick with that for a while. Speak to the dietician, they may have alternative nutrient drinks. Take your time and ask for help if you are worried just remember it may not heal overnight and to try lots of different foods but stick to sloppy foods at the moment.

Hope he improves

[strangetimes in reply to Zantri]

Chest infections can really drag you down and it must be very hard having these after such major surgery . ( and in winter and over the Christmas period didn't help ,I'm sure )

I think many will agree about not finding those drinks palatable .What has he been given ? I think there is quite a range - fruit flavoured ,milk based ,vanilla etc .

I think the dieticians like them because they contain all the prescribed nutrients .Would they go down better if you made them into a jelly /pudding ? Or mixed a vanilla one into a rice pudding /semolina /custard /cheesecake /cheese sauce ?

What sort of food does he like /did he like ?

My advice would be to go with soft ,nutrient dense food - eggs ,cauliflower cheese,mash ,fish .People recommend adding stuff to these dishes - butter ,powdered milk ,cream ,cheese to up the calories .

He's lucky to have you .It's very hard for carers I think ,in many ways harder than for the patient .

Good luck ,he WILL get there .

[kennyliston]

Thank you all for your comments it is reassuring

[Tescogran]

We had sachets of powder which I was able to put in my husband's food I think they were called Procal. It is hard to help them get interested in food again as so many things can cause dumping...just when you think you are on to a winner!

[Hidden]

I think that there are a variety of nutritional drinks available, but it will depend on the hospital. Having little sips is probably a good way to start as his system needs to start getting used to taking nutrition by mouth.

There are all sorts of ways of mixing flavours into these drinks, and if he likes smoothies, this might be a way forward.

Sometimes the operation means that people simply do not feel hungry. One of the things that causes us to feel hungry is ghrelin, that is made in the top part of the stomach, and therefore people do sometimes have to try and eat/drink by the clock rather than by feelings of hunger.

And appetite does get affected by the surgery / chemotherapy so that things simply do not taste appetising, but this normally improves after a while. Keeping the mouth clean and moist can be important.

There are some ideas on the booklets that can be downloaded from the OPA website opa.org.uk/downloads.html 'A Guide to life After Surgery' and 'Swallowing when it is difficult'

[sallym]

It is difficult to cope at the start but I did find that eating ice-cream was helpful, various nutrients could be added without tasting them.The coldness of the ice-cream having a slight numbness in swallowing. There was a hospital that had a special machine dispensing an ice-cream that was made with specific additives to help with recovery. I'm not sure what happened to it but it might just have proved to be too expensive ! Might be worth a try. It does get better with time so hope this might be helpful. sally

[worthbanner]

He may not recover a vigorous appetite for quite a while--it was more than a year after treatment and surgery before I regained what one would call an affection for any sort of food. I second the suggestion of ice cream--it tasted better to me than anything during that year and is fairly nutritious. Good luck!

Worth

[HONORIUS]

Icecream for sure. My Macmillan nurse's tip was to freeze the nutrient drinks and take them in lolly form, or quickly whizzed in the blender. That worked for me: it was otherwise impossible to choke down the repulsive stuff. I also found that adding more natural flavourings - good quality cocoa to vanilla base, or a dash of raspberry purée, or fruit syrups like those available in Polish delicatessens - helped to mask the weird synthetic flavour. Freezing them (just empty them into a shallow container) dealt with the vile, gelatinous mouth-feel. Tell your Pa that all of those who've trodden this path before him are rooting for him, and that he must remember that he's in the fortunate minority to have been eligible for surgery. There's glorious light at the end of what feels now like a tunnel.

[kennyliston]

thank you so much I will certainly try your suggestions

[kennyliston]

can anyone help with dumping syndrome please?