My mom has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (in her abdomen). No pain but a lot of nausea. She's still very self sufficient but hardly able to eat. She's just started with in home hospice care. Is there any way to guess how I can expect this to progress?
It's hard to see our loved ones not eating but that is part of the body shutting down. My mother got so she only wanted cool foods such as fruit, some fresh vegetables and sometimes, ice cream. She'd eat very light meals like toast and tea (sometimes). She didn't even want to see a big meal because seeing a lot of food ruined what appetite she had. Everyone is different, but since you mom is on hospice I wouldn't worry about nutrition. Give her what she wants when she wants it. Hospice may have more suggestions. Try to take care of yourself, too. Carol
There are very good anti nausea meds, make sure hospice makes them available. Sometimes the smell of food cooking can kick in the nausea even before she tries to eat so try foods with little smell like jello, cereal, pudding and the like. Hope the best.
If mom still is cooking or family wants to fix food for her, there is a great cookbook with straightforward recipes by Holly Clegg "Cooking Through Cancer". The book addresses the triggers for nausea & tummy upsets & balancing proteins for digestion not just for post cancer treatment but other diseases as well.
Try a product called Orgain. It comes in chocolate or vanilla. It was developed by a doctor specifically for cancer patients. Much better taste without all the sugar of all the others.
Nausea helps: peppermint tea, slice a few pieces of ginger and add to regular tea or just use hot water. Eating is not causing nausea: my guess is it's a lot of other medical issues but from the diets you guys recommend, diet and life style probably had a lot to do with this! Encourage healthy meals when she feels like eating and look to the cause. If her time on Earth is up might as well go without as much pain or irritation as possible. That's just my 2 cents. Best wishes.
I would imagine that hospice has left you with anti-nausea medication for your mom? If not, ask them for it. It should be part of her "comfort care" package. Also, try a little ginger ale, ice chips, maybe a few sips of juice. Something to get the taste of food in her mouth without irritating her nausea. Have you tried Ensure or Boost? I work in home healthcare and I work hospice and I have a patient right now who can't eat or drink but she enjoys those frappucino things from McDonald's. She experiences nausea as well but she can tolerate the frozen drink.
I was having the same trouble,my doctor had me taking Zantac,because many of the drugs i am orescribed cause stomache upset,but they no longer helped,I started taking fomatidine tablets,the name brand is pepcid ac,but cheaper to buy generic.Try these ,1 in the morning and 1 at night
I had very good luck giving my mom the homeopathic medicine Hyland’s NUX VOMICA, which can be purchased from Vita-Cost online at a fraction of the cost of motion sickness meds; this is not an advertisement. One to four tablets were given a half hour before meals under the tongue and allowed to dissolve. They could also be given orally with water, but would be slower acting. The tablets were very effective preventing nausea until the last stage of CHF when my mom went from a fairly normal diet to pureed food and heavily thickened liquids.
In response to TOJAM’s post, I wish I’d known about Orgain. I had problems getting my father to drink the sweet protein and vitamin supplements due to their sugar content. However, my mother did very well on the sweet tasting (lower cost generic) protein and vitamin supplements.
Try to take care of yourself, too.
Carol
In response to TOJAM’s post, I wish I’d known about Orgain. I had problems getting my father to drink the sweet protein and vitamin supplements due to their sugar content. However, my mother did very well on the sweet tasting (lower cost generic) protein and vitamin supplements.
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