No appetite with ALL

TomAG
TomAG Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Leukemia #1
My name is Tom and my wife was diagnosed with acute lymphocydic leukemia in July. She is 47 and we have 5 kids ranging from 20 down to 8. She has lost about 25 lbs and says she can only eat cereal and boost. I have try a number of foods and she just says she can't eat them. She has no strength left and is now getting a bad attitude for recovery. She has three more treatments to go. Can anyone help me with some thoughts on how to help her with eating? Thank You.

Comments

  • jeff_r
    jeff_r Member Posts: 3
    #2
    When I was going through a vigorous chemo regimen for ALL I lost my appetite for some time. My wife bought cans of Ensure as well as V-8 vegetable juice. Ensure comes in flavors and is a nutritionally balanced, easy to drink and digest food. There are other brands that are the same. I found Ensure palatable. I probably spent close to 2 weeks on this liquid diet and slowly, very slowly my appetite started to return. My wife laughs now when remembering when my appetite did return all I wanted to eat for nearly a week was fried egg on toasted bagel. All the best. Jeff
  • krissy
    krissy Member Posts: 5
    #3
    Hi. My name is Kristi. I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) 3 years ago when I was 18. I just finished my treatments. I remember I could only eat plain food like chicken, soup, cereal without milk,and plain sandwiches with ham. I also remember I couldn't eat hamburgers or beef for a while. Hope this helps!
    Kristi
  • onlyxryryx
    onlyxryryx Member Posts: 1
    #4
    Hi. I'm ryan. I'm 14 years of age, and I was diagnosed with ALL only a month ago. It's gone by pretty fast. I have just finished my first series of treatment, and am about to enter my second series after my bone marrow aspiration and spinal tap. Lately I'v been having an off and on appetite. I crave a lot of spicy foods. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I eat a lot, and don't gain any weight at all, but lose it. And some of the stuff I eat isn't that great for you. I do eat a lot of celery, because I crave the crunchiness of it..but I also am in love with Flaming Hot Cheetos. :) Very yummy snack. I can't say that I've gone through a lot with chemo yet, but I'm sure that if you give her protein drinks, maybe it might help. I know that they're thick and might disgust her, but a family friend of mine had a certain flavor he liked. You have to try different things. Try fruits and vegetables, and just see what she likes.. You have to experiment. I have also grown fond to fried rice. I've learend to cook it on my own, rather than to go out and buy it, but yes, it is very tasty. I'm sorry for all the random thoughts. But yes, you just have to experiment around. Sorry if i can't be of any help. Just thoughts on my mind.

    God Bless.
    Ryan

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