My Mom not eating or drinking much

MrsBee

My Mom has been through 2 rounds of chemo plus radiation and is now 2 treatments into her 3rd round.

the first 2 were tough but this 3rd round is much much tougher.

before she would be down for 4-5 days and then would gradually get stronger and would be even in the kitchen again

just before her next treatment.

this time she is bed ridden, terrible bouts of nausea and diareah and getting weaker and weaker.

she now for the first time cannot get to the shower. She can bearly sit up on the pillows to eat.

she's had to be taken to the hospital twice now for hydration and lack of potasium and magneseum which did make her feel better.

She can still use the toillet. Still she eats almost nothing, half a boost, a activia yogurt and a glass of orange juice a day.

For the past 2 days she's slept most of the time.

Funny thing is this time around she's kept her hair.

her 3rd treatment is schedualed for Monday.

Today she complained of pain in her neck lympnodes.

I don't know what it all means . For 2 and a half years she seems to have been doing pretty well

and suddenly she's at this very low ebb.

Is this the chemo or the cancer?

  

Lou Ann M

So sorry to hear

i wish I had a better answer far you.  I can give you my own experience.  I was on some chemo that completely took my appetite and made me very sleepy.  During recent radiation to my spine and for awhile after, I could hardly eat anythin.  I was on some pain meds last year that made me sleep most of the time.  Between chemo and radiation, I have had times that I could barely stand to shower.  So it could be caused by external effects, but sadly, it could be the cancer.  I would call her oncologist and see what they have to say.

Hugs and prayers to both of you, Lou Ann

NoTimeForCancer

MrsBee, a lot of us have

MrsBee, a lot of us have talked about losing the desire to eat during chemo, I remember having to really make the effort but I knew I needed it to fight.  They have some pretty good drugs to help with nausea so give the doctors office a call, tell them what has been going on and see if they can get a prescription for her.  

MAbound

Megace

I'm currently on Megace (progesterone) therapy. It's used for this cancer to improve appetite and to slow cancer growth. You may  want to ask your mom's oncologist if this might help her with her eating. The really important thing is to keep her hydrated so keep pushing the fluids with her because she's probably too exhausted from the chemo to do it herself. She's lucky to have you there for her. You may also want to ask her doctor about Gatorade since she's had issues with her electrolytes being low. Definitely get some advice about doing that before offering it to her, though.

pinky104

Emend

See if your mother's doctor will prescribe Emend which prevents nausea and vomiting.  It's normally given in pill form, but I got it approved to be put in my port before my chemo was started each time, as the pill form was going to be too expensive with my insurance.  I had the pill form with a different insurance back in 2010.  I've never had nausea and vomiting.  I have had diarrhea with the Gemzar I'm on, but the doctor reduced my dose and I haven't had it since then, except once.  That was when I had an allergic reaction to the Carboplatin I've also been on (and that was on my 11th time of having Carboplatin).  I was occasionally taking a magnesium pill until my PA told me that magnesium causes diarrhea, so I stopped supplementing with that. 

Has your mother tried drinking Ensur?.  I think that's the standard drink to use as a meal substitute around here.  I had it in the hospital and it wasn't half bad.  Could the acid in the orange juice be bothering her?  What kind of chemo is she taking?