Hello. For the past 2-3 months I've been having trouble maintaining weight. It has dropped as low as 104. I should be around 115-120 for my height. I am vegan, don't drink, and am trying to shove in the calories. I've also experienced some stomach upset (mild nausea) that makes eating unappealing. I've started supplementing with plant-based Ensure once or twice a day. Have any of you experienced anything similar or have any suggestions?
Right now I'm on Faslodex and Letrozole and within days of my two year Mets cancerversary. I've had one major pleural effusion and a paracentesis a couple of weeks ago (along with a two night stay in the hospital and liver biopsy). I'm thinking I may need another round of Taxol to knock everything back down. Thank you for any advice, good vibes, and prayers if you're so inclined.
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WordNerdSharron
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Hello. I had early satiety and rapid weight loss. I had an endoscopy with biopsy, and they found cancer in my stomach. You may want to ask for an endoscopy.
Thank you. I'm working with a gastro doc, and she's been wonderful to check and double check things. She's holding off on an endoscopy until she gets my liver issues solved. An MRI and biopsy returned no evidence of mets, but she has sent the biopsy out for a second opinion because of my wacky liver enzymes. I'll ask her about when an endoscopy might be warranted. So many to things to think about with our bodies as we live with cancer, eh?
Does your hospital or clinic have a dietician or nutritionist who specializes in cancer? I would contact them right away for advice, and also call your oncologist. That seems like a lot of weight loss for your size, though your recent health challenges probably contributed. Who wants to eat hospital food?! I struggle to stay around 120 too and find eating more smaller meals helps. I’m sure the nausea and pleural effusion make that challenging too. I assume you had scans with your recent hospitalization; are they recommending a treatment change? Wishing you good support and a change for the better soon!
I just talked to someone in my present practice yesterday, and she says I'm doing things right for now, although she did encourage me to try to blend in some eggs and/or dairy. Hmmmm. I am going to look for a dietician who will work with a vegan dealing with these cancer issues. It was the dietician in the hospital who got me to try plant-based Ensure, so that's been really helpful. Thank you!
Yes, I'm pretty sure regular Ensure does contain soy. Ensure plant-based protein uses fava beans and peas as a protein source (20 grams protein per 11 oz shake, chocolate or vanilla). It does have 7 grams of organic sugar which would normally make it a no-go for me, but the hospital dietician told me to put that thought aside if possible until I can get some weight on.
Hello, I am vegetarian and wheat/sugar free and upped my exercise after diagnosis/covid. I have also experienced a stone weight loss. My hospital only offers nutritionists for in-patients, which I think is shortsighted. I still feel hungry - Nuts, peanut butter and home-made shakes get the calories in quickly. Have you tried buckwheat pancakes with banana.. ?my favourite
I do make my own homemade hummus and babaganoush, both using tahini. Yum. Never thought of drizzling it on pancakes, but I'll try that now! Thanks.
Hi WordNerdSharron (I like your name...),
I have one thought/idea, probably not relevant, but thought I'd share, just in case...
Several months ago I went through a phase where I had a pronounced, nearly constant queasiness, no interest in eating, for maybe 4-6 weeks. I def lost weight during this time, about 5 pounds, which is unusual for me and I did not want to lose more.
I felt sort of like I was being poisoned, so after ruling out the possibility that someone was trying to "knock me off" ( ), I looked at my labs and saw that my calcium level had increased pretty significantly up to the very high-end of "normal". I read that "hypercalcemia" can cause this feeling and while I wasn't quite there (e.g. 9.8 on labs vs. 10 as start of elevated), I do find that I'm much more attuned to subtle changes in my body/how I feel than I used to be. I don't know if it's the vegan/mostly "clean" diet, or just my focus on my body/elimination of other distracting things (like work/busy-ness).
I was having a bit of progression in my bone mets at the time (we later learned) and they were releasing extra calcium into my blood. I started to take D3, which helps your body reabsorb the calcium, and the queasiness went away within a few days. I also started to exercise a lot at the same time; not sure if this made any difference.
So maybe take a look at the calcium level on your labs? And if you don't already take a good dose of D3, maybe try that? You should take it anyway (seriously)...I take 2500 IU's...Had upped it to 5000, thinking, as always, that "more is better", but the queasiness returned (read that too much D3 can do this, too) and so I didn't take it for a couple of days then went back to just the 2500.
Thank you, Lynn. I hadn't thought of that. I just checked my labs, and when my nausea and lack of appetite were worst (end of July) my calcium was 10.4. I adjusted my daily dose down a bit, and the end of August it was 8, which is a bit low. I do take D3, so I'll be careful with it, too. My former primary care doc always said that if you live above the latitude where Atlanta, Georgia, is located, you probably don't get enough D, so I've supplemented since then. Once they get this dratted fluid off my lung this week, I hope to go back to more active exercise; I know that makes a difference. Always adjusting! Onward and upward!
I lost a lot of weight and was down to 113. Couldn’t stand the smell of food. Ended up in the hospital for 6 days as I was so dehydrated. And this is when we had no visitors because of Covid. Bad!
I am now up to 125 plus. I looked up what was best for hydration. Now I drink coconut water, V8 juice and Orange juice. Sometimes I mix some orange juice or a teaspoon of jam with my coconut water to mix it up.
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), I looked at my labs and saw that my calcium level had increased pretty significantly up to the very high-end of "normal". I read that "hypercalcemia" can cause this feeling and while I wasn't quite there (e.g. 9.8 on labs vs. 10 as start of elevated), I do find that I'm much more attuned to subtle changes in my body/how I feel than I used to be. I don't know if it's the vegan/mostly "clean" diet, or just my focus on my body/elimination of other distracting things (like work/busy-ness). 
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