How manage weight loss after Total Gastrectomy

My husband recently suffered radical surgery to remove all his stomach and half his esophagus due to cancer. (Roux en Y)

He is almost 3 months post op, taking creon 3 times a day, and doing good morale wise. However, we cannot manage to put a stop to the weight loss. His medical team was only able to offer protein shakes which he cannot tolerate and does not want to take. His apetite is fine, but suffers from gas, and runny stools. If he has 2-3 good days, then this is followed by bad days. So feels like you are coming back to square one after your efforts..

I am looking to find any advise about how to improve the weight situation as seeing him turn into a bag of bones is horrible.

[Janashlin]

I am a year post op and I still struggle to keep weight on.

The loss has slowed down a lot but it is hard to get enough calories in a day.

I bring snacks with me and I try hard to remember to eat them!

[Hidden in reply to Janashlin]

How much weight did you lose during this time? My husband is apx 175 tall, and is down to 56 kg. He was quite slim to begin with so, where he is today is scary to me. His arms and legs are like a childern's...

How is your energy levels after a year? were you able to go back to work?

[Janashlin in reply to Hidden]

I had major complications, ended up with a heart attack, chyle leak and sepsis so I was in intensive care for 57 days.

I lost 60 pounds and now I have pretty much stabilised.

I get bad dumping syndrome so eating is a challenge but it’s getting better.

Energy levels are much better but I’m still not back to work. I can’t go back until I am able to eat without the major side effects.

Looking back I wish I had not stressed so much about the weight loss because I think it adds stress to what is already a horrific ordeal.

Eat very small amounts often and just to share it drove me insane having people trying to get me to eat all of the time. There is a protein water available in North America and when I was there for a few months I drank a fair bit of that and it helped.

Day by day and keep looking at how far you guys have come.

[liz_crisp]

Hi. It is a slow process , the gut has to learn again how to process food imagine you are back to being a baby cum toddler your body is learning about food and how to handle it all over again you need lots of small calorie rich snacks. You need to add calories to everything. Potatoes can be mashed with cream and butter add some mustard and grated cheese cream cheese. Same for parsnips, sweet potatoes. Etc. Add powdered milk to normal milk to enrich it. Use it to make puddings. Pasta sauces, milky drinks etc. Make sauces for food by adding cream to the pan you cooked in and adding maybe some sherry, brandy, or masala, add Malibu to cream, butter and a few prawns. Only eat a tea plate full of food at a time, but graze all day. A stick of cheese, a biscuit, packet of crisps, cauliflower cheese, potato rosti add grated cheese to mix , bake bit of Camembert and add red currant jelly or cranberry sauce. Dip toast in or the crust of bread rolls. It’s not always easy to deal with soft white bread. Make up some tuna mayonnaise maybe add sweet orn and finely chopped peppers and eat it on little tiny crackers or just by the spoon full. Baked beans on toast with added butter and some cheese grated on top. Make smoothies using full fat youghurt, Creme freche, ice cream. But only drink a cupful at a time. You must not overload your digestion but you can nibble and graze all day long. I would hve a fridge full of little pots of snacks that could be heated up or eaten cold. I had nut bars, cereal bars etc in the car, my handbag, around the house. Lots of cheese in the fridge etc. I made gravy with extra butter in it. Always had cream around But do keep portions small. And forget about three meals a day. You can use Advacados to add calories to salads, crispy onions. Etc. Cabbage with bacon and onion all cooked in lots of butter is tasty. Remember to take creon with food, not before or after. It’s a long haul and as your digestion develops so it will change and cope with more food but give it time. . For ages you may just be maintaining weight but not losing. Relax as Janashlim. Mentioned, stressing about it doesn’t help. And actually processing and creating enough energy for you is hard work for you newly plumbed system.

[D1Carol]

My Dad had same op. And then same weight loss problems. Through sheer trial and error he kept trying to eat, eating different things , and eventually managed to stabilise his weight after6-8 months. He had meal time religiously. He suffered from Dumping and all digestive problems. You can’t overdose on creon. Take it with snacks too. 6 small meals a day. Lots of eggs and stews. Nuts as snacks. Cheese - cheddar high calorie. And check out Lentinex - mushroom juice. Helps immune system especially if taken while on chemo.

Lots of advice on internet for trying to maintain weight., good luck.