My friend’s father has just finished round 1 of chemotherapy (leukemia) and, between the side effects and a secondary fungal infection of his liver, has lost a lot of weight.
He was already skinny to begin with, but now he’s (at 6’1") in the 140s. They’d like him to put on at least 10 pounds, and fast (so that he has some reserve for when he gets sick and can’t eat much in the 2nd round of chemo).
Any advice on fattening him up? My friend and his mom are already giving him Boost shakes 3 times a day in addition to regular food. They’re also trying to increase the frequency of his meals, so he eats every few hours. (His appetite is back to normal now.)
I suggested more carb-heavy foods to fatten him up and increase hunger even more, but he definitely needs protein to build up the muscle mass he’s lost.
Any of those shakes (like Boost) would work very well at upping body mass. Ask around for some of those shakes given to seniors who can’t eat solids (sorry, but I don’t remember names). They have the essentials in a very digestible form that is also palatable (one would hope). Protein can be found in various ways: Meats being the most obvious, but don’t forget beans, if only for variety. Heck, if I was in the patient’s condition I’d be eating porterhouse steaks once my appetite was up to snuff. But then, I love beef. Ask dieticians, they have some wonderful tools to do just what you need done. The hospital should have at least one. You’d be amazed how much can be done with even the most basic ingredients. Speaking of ingredients, this might be the best time for the convalescing to try some less common ones. For example, ostrich instead of chicken, or shark instead of tuna. IANAD (I Am Not A Dietician), however, so see a real one. By the way, I hope your friend’s dad gets well soon!
You won’t be able to keep him away from the fridge
Funny, I do that when I’m trying to lose weight. It tends to kick my metabolism into high gear and burn tons of calories.
But that is in conjunction with vigorous weight training and distance running.
[IMO]
If you want him to gain weight, space out his meals and make them as high fat as possible.
[/IMO]
In health food stores they have powdered muscle boosters, containing large amounts of protein. They also have various things to drink or to make shakes out of to help weight lifters bulk on weight. Get some of those and make him milk shakes with real ice cream. Carbohydrates can be found in any form of candy and syrup. If he likes maple syrup – let him shovel it over vanilla ice cream, pour it over fattening fried sausages and dip buttermilk biscuits in it.
Follow with a mutable vitamin pill, high in B. (The B encourages eating.) Make sure he’s getting enough C vitamin daily.
Bean and pea soups are good, potatoes covered with sour cream and butter (and chili, and cheese, and bacon bits and mushrooms and chives and … I’m getting hungry!)
The health food store will definitely have things to make him gain weight fast. (General Nutrition Centers.) Know a body builder? As him where he gets his supplements.
Oils are about 100 calories a teaspoon – like vegetable and olive. Feed him stuff pickled in olive oil – from a deli – like pasta salad or jars of artichoke heart salad.
I’m not a doctor, so I do NOT recommend any course of action. I merely toss this out so you can have your doctor discuss this with you.
My mother-in-law went through breast cancer, and had both major weight loss AND no appetite. In HER case (maybe not all cases) steroids did much to increase both her muscle mass AND her appetite.
So… if the steroid approach hasn’t already been considered, it MIGHT be worth discussing with your doctor now.
Before you make your friend’s dad a pothead, ask about THC suppositories. I hear they have the same effect on appetite as a blunt, but without the dangers of smoking. They are also a real medicine, and are regulated as such.
Your blood counts get easily screwed up when you have leukemia. Before this person starts anything other than regular foods, ASK THE DOCTOR.
Supplements can adversely affect the balance their medications are achieving. My friend that just died a few months ago had it. Don’t take weight training or other supplements until the doctor says it won’t screw up the blood counts.
Thanks for the help, all. It’s a moot point now. His platelet count was down on Friday afternoon so they decided to admit him back in early. While he’s in, they’re going to pump him up with what is known in the trade as a “hyper-al” (alimentary, I presume) line–a feeding tube they insert straight into your digestive tract and thru which they administer a nutritious, milky goo. It works a lot better than IV feeding, apparently.
My brother had Hodgkin’s and the anti-nausea stuff settled his stomach but he smoked in order to get an appetite. This was with cancer in his lungs too–yikes! I didn’t know there were suppositories, but that probably wouldn’t have changed his habit.
