Weight loss?

[Douglas Carpenter]

Since I was about 18 - I have either been fat or on a strict diet. Now, at 61 - since my diagnoses with Esophageal/upper gastric cancer - without trying in the least I have lost around 80 pounds and kept it off without any effort. Of course both having a nausea problem and swallowing problem - I am unable to enjoy the food I have always loved. I must admit, I love all kinds of food. I just cannot partake very much of it anymore. I don't know if I ever will, again.

Yes, I have tried medicinal hemp - It helps with many of my symptoms and just generally puts me in a better mood. But, it really has not made eating easier. Because it is not so much a matter of appetite. It is more a matter of swallowing and food settling in my stomach.

I must admit I really like not being fat. Achieving it without trying is kind of nice. I don't like what I've had to go through to achieve that, though.

Has dealing with weight loss been an issue with any of you? Has being caught between liking not being overweight and not being able to enjoy food caused a strange dilemma?

[Tab]

1. It's an interesting issue.

I have late stage cancer. I have a colostomy as a result of my original diagnosis (colon cancer). I'm also diabetic and have gastric-reflux disease.

I find my gastric reflux acts up if I don't eat, so there's an argument there, but then my colostomy acts up if I DO eat. I have some hernias that don't help the situation any. On top of that, the cyclical nature of it plays havoc with my diabetes, so there's lack of energy between diabetic problem and not eating.

What I find myself is in a cycle of eating for a couple of weeks, then dropping off and not eating for a few weeks (and I'm not even hungry). Hemp helps to a certain degree but usually it's a last resort to get to eat. I'm losing pounds, but more importantly I'm losing energy. I just suspect it'll be a continuous cycle.

And just food in general - I've cooked all my life, probably would have been a restaurant chef if I wasn't so aware of the seedy side of the glamour life. But I cooked for me and my family, but since I haven't really been eating (2 years now) I haven't really been cooking a damn thing for my family for 2+ years, although we always used to have a good meal most nights.

Like you, I love a large variety of foods. I've had to give up one of my loves, spicy, because my colostomy can't take it, but more than that, I find it hard to eat. I'm simply not hungry. If I need to eat, I may force it if desperate enough, but like you it has a lot to deal with just swallowing and food settling in my stomach. Someone will ask me out to eat, and if I haven't eaten for days, I might get a fruit cup. Other days it catches up with me and I need the pure protein of a prime rib slice. Overall, though, I don't eat. I get liquid nourishment and potassium and vitamins, but not really protein. Coconut milk, carrot juice, and Bolthouse Farms "daily greens" will only get you so far.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. do you use Ensure or a similar product? The local Commonwealth government here provides me with two

cases or 48 cans of Ensure every month through the Cancer Society. It is kind of tiresome to live primarily on Ensure even with the three flavors of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry - but it does have a complete balance of nutrition.

Just last night I tried having a large slice of vegetable pizza. Unfortunately, I was not really hungry and I felt a bit of an upset stomach later on last night. It certainly takes away from the joy of eating if one is worried about an upset stomach or even worse - food getting caught in my esophagus. I think that is the biggest single thing that takes away from my general qualify of life. I just love food very much. I just don't feel hungry for it and it causes trouble both with swallowing and settling.

[Tab]

3. Yes, I find Ensure helpful to get rolling again and keep my health up

My government doesn't provide me (I don't think) with any cases, surely not not 48 cans a month (they're bottles here). Actually I don't drink the shakes, because I'm lactose intolerant - only "Ensure active" which used to be sold as "Ensure clear" - I don't know if I'd want to live on them, but one a day certainly helps break the cycle and I do feel better. If I have them around I feel - particularly when I'm feeling weak - one or two a day makes a difference.

I know I'm not restricted to liquids, but sometimes it feels that way, and my diet resolves around carrot juice or coconut water (either for potassium) and a few other things, including Ensure.

I personally find that if I'm trying to break a cycle where my stomach is upset, and I don't think I can other stuff in, that I start small with something dry - I like to use Saltines, but also plain white rice or a dry toast, to soak up the acids in my stomach help me to stabilize it, and then I can put something like Ensure in, or maybe even part of a sandwich (sometimes I can stretch a sandwich out for a week, just having a bite now and then. I'm sure that's not healthy, but at least I'm trying to get some fuel in. Of course, this fucks with my sugars, but that's yet another story.

[Nay]

4. I have GERD, T2 diabetes, chronic constipation, and have had Stage 1 breast

Last edited Sat Jan 16, 2016, 12:29 AM - Edit history (1)

cancer. Almost 4 years on, the breast cancer shows no signs of coming back, so I don't think it's causing my complete lack of appetite. I have lost a few pounds. I see in my future, though, that I do run the danger of simply not ever wanting to eat. I'm already halfway there. Why?

First, like another poster, I have cooked for my family for 35 years. I have never liked cooking, but now I positively, absolutely fucking HATE it. I feel like crying every day at 4:30 --- argh, another fucking MEAL! If I lived alone I'd just have soup and a sandwich. Yep, every day.

I hate cooking. I hate it so much that I have lost my appetite entirely. I don't think that's the only reason -- GERD makes eating certain things unpleasant. Diabetes restricts many perfectly good foods that I used to love, such as good bread, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc., so much so that I am totally sick of those things that diabetics CAN eat liberally: meats, fats, and non-starchy vegetables. Constipation means that certain foods can clog me up and make me miserable. And frankly, I think my age (65) has a lot to do with loss of appetite, too. I look in the fridge and say "fuck it" to myself.

I also drink a meal replacement called Boost Glucose Control for at least one meal a day, just so I don't have to prepare anything. To get my veggies and to not have to prepare them, I put them into a Tornado blender and drink them. It even irritates me to cut up a salad anymore; I just throw it all willynilly into the blender and make a smoothie that can be drunk down in a flash. It even irritates me to take time eating. I fare better at a good restaurant with delicious foods that I don't make at home. I have to pick wisely to not aggravate my conditions, but a good meal that somebody else cooked is quite fun. Otherwise, fuck food.

[Tab]

5. Hmmm

Last edited Tue Feb 2, 2016, 04:57 PM - Edit history (1)

I also have GIRD, and T2 diabetes, and stage four cancer, and a colostomy which plays into it.

Unlike you, and/or whatever other poster you were referring to, I absolutely love cooking and look forward to it. However, I've found with a loss of appetite (probably a bad interaction between the GIRD, the T2, the cancer, and the colostomy) I don't want to cook at all.

On the few times I feel better on all fronts I'm happy to cook the hell out of my day, but those times are now fewer and far between. Lack of wanting to cook - even for myself, if not others - is severely limiting my food and probably creating all sorts of issues for me healthwise.

I liked Ensure Clear (not the shakes, but the cleary fruity ones they had) but they seem to have disappeared off my store's shelves. Not cheap, but I did feel they werer helping.

On edit: Nothing against Ensure shakes, but I'm lactose intolerant and shakes can be too sugary or heavy for me anyway. Not to imply there's anything wrong with the shakes, just that I can't personally tolerate them - only the "clears". So, uh, don't sue me Ensure company.

p.s.: I wouldn't say no to a free case of clear by Ensure if the company wanted to butter me up. But this post is honest

[Nay]

6. I could easily see my lack of appetite leading me to dislike cooking even

more than I did already, so, like you, I think I could get some health ramifications down the road.The 3 or 4 problems feed on themselves, and it is a real pain to deal with. I really feel for you because your cancer and the colostomy add a dimension that just can't be pleasant. It doesn't sound like you have anyone to cook for you -- that's too bad, because you might be more likely to eat a little something someone else cooked, even if you didn't have quite enough energy to cook for yourself.

I don't know anything about Ensure, except that most nutrition replacements have waaaaay too many carbs for a diabetic to use. I was happy to find the Boost.

[Tab]

7. I find that if I want to eat badly enough, I'll cook

For those in-between times, I like to have someone (restaurant) make me prime rib (something that's a pain to do at home), but otherwise I'm quite happy with what I cook, just that I don't feel like cooking anything.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I lived on ScandiShakes for about 3 months. I had cancer of my tonsils, 7 years ago. Weight loss

is a major problem for all who have oral or neck cancers. Many have to have feeding tubes inserted to survive. My doctor didn't want me to lose more than 30 pounds, so I put weights in my pockets. Lost a total of 36 pounds. I did start eating again after radiation ended, but everything tasted like dirty socks. All my taste buds had been killed off. Gradually, taste came back as well as some of the weight. Most of the people in my support group have thyroid issues and stay thin.

So, yes, it's nice to lose the weight, but rough going.

Has your doctor order ScandiShakes for you or talked about a feeding tube?

http://www.scandishake.co.uk/

[Tab]

9. Hah!

"My doctor didn't want me to lose more than 30 pounds, so I put weights in my pockets. "

That's funny.

Myself, I drink Ensure when I can get food down. Only the clear stuff - can't drink the shakes.

[olddots]

10. feeding tube for 9 months no solid food for a year

no taste buds or saliva but it all comes back slowly ... very slowly

[Tab]

11. Is it throat cancer?

I can't eat easily, but it's not for lack of taste buds or saliva

[olddots]

12. Yes throat cancer which they call head and neck cancer

Hopefully cancer treatments won't rely on burning and poisoning eventually but science marches on despite the repukians .

[Solly Mack]

13. I had to get a feeding tube because I lost too much weight.

I couldn't swallow. Couldn't eat. Constantly throwing up.

I finally normalized. Though I will admit that I enjoyed being thin thin.

[Tab]

15. Unfortunately Douglas has passed

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11462600

It wasn't particularly publicized, but he passed after a good fight. He was a respiratory therapist, I think, so he had no illusions about what he was in for.