losing weight

sue5749
sue5749 Member Posts: 170
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hi, My husband wanted me to ask if anyone on this site keeps losing weight before all this started 8 months ago he was 180 lbs, last time at doctors office was 150 lbs today he saids he weighs 144 lbs . He had a biopsy done last Wed and we go back to the ENT this Tuesday for the results. Sue

Comments

  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #2
    It depends
    has he had trouble swallowing lately? Has he gone through treatment already? What did they biopsy?

    In our case, the answer is that Doug had a few extra pounds of fat before he started treatment but only lost weight when he started chemo. He'd had frequent sore throats before the cancer was detected, but that didn't really interfere with eating.

    Here's hoping the biopsy results are encouraging. . .
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    DrMary said:

    It depends
    has he had trouble swallowing lately? Has he gone through treatment already? What did they biopsy?

    In our case, the answer is that Doug had a few extra pounds of fat before he started treatment but only lost weight when he started chemo. He'd had frequent sore throats before the cancer was detected, but that didn't really interfere with eating.

    Here's hoping the biopsy results are encouraging. . .

    I did. I had trouble keeping and gaining weight.
    Calories, calories, calories. I really had to keep track of mine, or forget it. I did not get enough if I didn't write everything down and keep track. I had to get at least 2400 in, or I kept loosing. (i was so sick I went down 40 lbs, to a low of 87 lbs. I am 5'2") I kept track of my calories, and my nutrients here:



    MY PYRAMID TRACKER



    If I did not keep track, and get enough, the weight came off rapidly. I am around 110 lbs now, and I have been able to cut back to between 1600-1700 a day. I am not longer counting every day, but seem to be doing much better. My nutritionist said that when you are sick like that you really need the calories. It was hard to do, once I got rid of my peg, since I have trouble swallowing. I never put anything in my mouth to eat or drink that dd not have calories.
  • sue5749
    sue5749 Member Posts: 170
    #4
    DrMary said:

    It depends
    has he had trouble swallowing lately? Has he gone through treatment already? What did they biopsy?

    In our case, the answer is that Doug had a few extra pounds of fat before he started treatment but only lost weight when he started chemo. He'd had frequent sore throats before the cancer was detected, but that didn't really interfere with eating.

    Here's hoping the biopsy results are encouraging. . .

    losing weight
    My husband had cancer of the throat, he had 35 rad treatments they ended April 1st also 8 cemo treatments. He had to go in the hospitol to have a port put in and the feeding tube. He stopped breathing on the table so then had to put in a track. We were in Ocala at the time. We are home now in Michigan, went to a new ENT. Last week he had a biopsy and they took the old track out and put a new one in. He does not have any more mucus coming out like he did before, it was awful! And his voice sounds a lot better! The only thing is that he has not been able to eat or drink anything by mouth for 6 months now. Only the can liquid food which is 375 cal per can. He takes in 5 cans a day. Sue
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #5
    Hi Sue
    Tell me the story I went from 230lbs to 180lbs and I am now 159lbs and holing. I have a hard time keeping weight on but it is due to my thyroid gland being destroyed by the treatment. I am no way the man I once was but I am once the man I always was or that is what I tell my wife. lol

    Good luck on Tuesday with the test results.
    Hondo
  • Scambuster
    Scambuster Member Posts: 973
    #6
    sue5749 said:

    losing weight
    My husband had cancer of the throat, he had 35 rad treatments they ended April 1st also 8 cemo treatments. He had to go in the hospitol to have a port put in and the feeding tube. He stopped breathing on the table so then had to put in a track. We were in Ocala at the time. We are home now in Michigan, went to a new ENT. Last week he had a biopsy and they took the old track out and put a new one in. He does not have any more mucus coming out like he did before, it was awful! And his voice sounds a lot better! The only thing is that he has not been able to eat or drink anything by mouth for 6 months now. Only the can liquid food which is 375 cal per can. He takes in 5 cans a day. Sue

    No Surprise
    Sue,

    I think his weight loss is understandable considering what he has been through and also he is not long out from treatment. It may take 6-12 months before he starts to regain weight and is able to eat enough. i the man time he need better nutrition via the PEG / port.

    Remember the only ways he can gsain weight are 1. Eat more than he needs so the excess is converted to fat (not the good way) and 2. by building muscle mass which required doing resistance exersice (the good way).

    I would suggest you find a more wholesome nutrition supplement for him and add some other things to his PEG feeds. Secondly, if he can start very mild exersice, that is a usually a positive thing.

    Don't expect his weight to pile back on. Find out what his ideal weight is (Google BMI) and that should be your target healthy weight.

    Hope this helps.

    Scam
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #7
    sue5749 said:

    losing weight
    My husband had cancer of the throat, he had 35 rad treatments they ended April 1st also 8 cemo treatments. He had to go in the hospitol to have a port put in and the feeding tube. He stopped breathing on the table so then had to put in a track. We were in Ocala at the time. We are home now in Michigan, went to a new ENT. Last week he had a biopsy and they took the old track out and put a new one in. He does not have any more mucus coming out like he did before, it was awful! And his voice sounds a lot better! The only thing is that he has not been able to eat or drink anything by mouth for 6 months now. Only the can liquid food which is 375 cal per can. He takes in 5 cans a day. Sue

    Well, that is only 1,875
    Well, that is only 1,875 calories. I was doing 6 cans per day, plus baby food for xtra fibre and potassium, and prune juice, and a yogurt on top of that. All thru my peg. 1800 is about enough for me to get back to my 120 lbs and im only 5'2" and 110 lbs or so. ive not weighed myself for a while. I think you should look up how many calories he needs to be for his goal weight. You can google this, their are many sites, or I think that the Pyramid Tracker Link has one.

    I don't think that is enough calories, and I don't think it's enough "real food". Six moths is a long time to be on that canned stuff, don't get me wrong, I had to do it too, but I slowly started blending and adding in fruits and veggies pureed, strained and thinned, thru my tube. It made me feel so much better. You can check the superthread for Adventurebob's tips or pinedogs food, and lucy's real food. Something to think about.
  • BeacherBum
    BeacherBum Member Posts: 32
    #8
    I have lost 60 lbs since
    I have lost 60 lbs since January, but I had the extra. I had planned on losing 50 via a much different route, but I see it as a silver lining for me personally.

    Calories, calories, calories. We have a program at my hospital where I can get a case of carnation instant breakfast for a donation of $5.
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #9
    BeacherBum said:

    I have lost 60 lbs since
    I have lost 60 lbs since January, but I had the extra. I had planned on losing 50 via a much different route, but I see it as a silver lining for me personally.

    Calories, calories, calories. We have a program at my hospital where I can get a case of carnation instant breakfast for a donation of $5.

    Consult with the nutritionists also
    I agree with the comments above (although you should not fear extra calories will be converted to fat - for one thing, a bit of fat is necessary and for another, his body will likely replace muscle back to the point of "normal" first). However, exercise does seem to help put the weight back, so a combo of resistance and mild cardio is a good idea if he can do it (you' be surprised how many trainers have experience working with cancer patients).

    You should talk to a professional, but you can also get an idea of how many calories he should be getting with the various websites (we used caloriecount.com). You can set a daily calorie goal and track nutrition (they had Boost Plus in their database - they might have Jevity and you can add it if they don't) and exercise. I'd go for a gain of about a pound a week, which is likely to mean about 3000 calories a day for your husband.

    This was tough for us to do, as Doug did not have a PEG, and we took it slow in the beginning, as he'd lost about 35 lbs in 2 months and we were facing refeeding syndrome. For about 2 months, it felt like we were just spinning our wheels - we were bailing the calories to him and he didn't gain. He finally started to, and has gained about 25 lbs in the 6 months since he stopped treatment - all of it muscle, except for that layer of fat that insulates nerves and organs (although he still gets cold faster than the rest of us).

    Again, we didn't use the PEG, but many of those homemade supplements for the tube sounded pretty good when I read them. I hope you start to see improvement soon.
  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #10
    DrMary said:

    Consult with the nutritionists also
    I agree with the comments above (although you should not fear extra calories will be converted to fat - for one thing, a bit of fat is necessary and for another, his body will likely replace muscle back to the point of "normal" first). However, exercise does seem to help put the weight back, so a combo of resistance and mild cardio is a good idea if he can do it (you' be surprised how many trainers have experience working with cancer patients).

    You should talk to a professional, but you can also get an idea of how many calories he should be getting with the various websites (we used caloriecount.com). You can set a daily calorie goal and track nutrition (they had Boost Plus in their database - they might have Jevity and you can add it if they don't) and exercise. I'd go for a gain of about a pound a week, which is likely to mean about 3000 calories a day for your husband.

    This was tough for us to do, as Doug did not have a PEG, and we took it slow in the beginning, as he'd lost about 35 lbs in 2 months and we were facing refeeding syndrome. For about 2 months, it felt like we were just spinning our wheels - we were bailing the calories to him and he didn't gain. He finally started to, and has gained about 25 lbs in the 6 months since he stopped treatment - all of it muscle, except for that layer of fat that insulates nerves and organs (although he still gets cold faster than the rest of us).

    Again, we didn't use the PEG, but many of those homemade supplements for the tube sounded pretty good when I read them. I hope you start to see improvement soon.

    started at 225lbs
    and am holding at 175 today. I was absolutely overweight to begin with and this is probably my proper weight. It really is difficult now staying at this weight. I have to count calories and exercise as well as changing my entire way of eating. You might want to start keeping a record of calories and weight gain/loss for future reference.

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