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Elderly parents

Dad has stopped eating.

135 replies

Cocolapew · 15/06/2021 15:13

My Dad hasn't really ate anything since the beginning of May. He says he just has no appetite.
He has had bloods done at the GP and then got called for a lot more. A gastric consultant is going to phone him next week for a telephone appointment after he has reviewed the blood results.
I feel that him and my mum aren't being pro active enough. I went around today and he was in bed. I said to my mum that I thought he should be in hospital and she said that she was going to get my dad to phone the GP tomorrow.
She admitted he fell at the weekend but was on cyclizine and was hallucinating on it so has stopped it. If I had knew when he fell I would have phoned an ambulance.
Mum did say she told him he was going to starve to death if he didn't start to eat.
Its such a drastic change in him. He has always been super fit especially for his age.
He hurt his ankle playing golf and then took siactica and has gone downhill so very, very fast
I don't really know what I want from writing this. I'm just so worried and at a loss Sad
I don't know if my mum wants me to take control over the whole thing or not. She's usually pretty on the ball but neither of them even know what the bloods are for or why he's getting a phone appointment.

OP posts:
Mymapuddlington · 15/06/2021 16:01

Really sorry. My dad stopped eating, went for bloods and was diagnosed with cancer Flowers

Mrs08 · 15/06/2021 15:59

Really sorry yo hear this
Would your dad drink things like fortisip or complan?
He must feel very weak

Cocolapew · 15/06/2021 15:55

I will thanks.
I didn't realise he had failed so much because I've been ill for weeks myself so haven't been round.
I knew he was in A&E that time because I was there with a pulmonary embolism.
I think at the start even he thought the appetite loss was due to the pain in his leg. He kept saying if he could just get it sorted he'd be fine.
If Mum or him don't phone the dr tomorrow I'm going to have to. It's a nightmare trying to speak to one at the moment.

OP posts:
Stealthynamechange · 15/06/2021 15:50

If hes off his legs after a fall you can call for an ambulance, i'd try urgent gp appt first though.

Cocolapew · 15/06/2021 15:31

Oh sorry didn't see the other posts.
Mum said she will get him to phone the Gp tomorrow I told her she should phone and ask for a home appointment.
I'm going to go around tomorrow and see him, I want to take him to A&E. He was there the other week but it was about his back pain. Personally I think its being caused by something more than siactica.
Can you phone an ambulance in a case like this?
He 77 and hearing is ok but he never really understands anything, he just lets it go over his head, always has done.

OP posts:
Cocolapew · 15/06/2021 15:26

Thank you greymayday, he is drinking water and lucozade. He said to me he just has no appetite and can't even eat a treat, iykwIm? , just to get calories in him.
This started with him being constipated, but seems to have blown up all of a sudden. His GP seems to have been on the ball.
I do think he may have cancer and that why the quick timing of blood tests. He never remembers what was said in the Drs , but Im not sure he's actually asking much.
It's just so frustrating.

OP posts:
Hax · 15/06/2021 15:24

How old is ge and how is your dad's hearing? I ask because telephone appointments can be very difficult for the elderly. Could you be there for the appointment and get him to use speaker phone? The appointment is quite quick so I wonder what the bloods showed.

Stealthynamechange · 15/06/2021 15:23

Just to add i would suggest you dont give him fortisip/ensure etc without GP or Dietitian advice due to the refeeding risk x

Stealthynamechange · 15/06/2021 15:22

Hi I'm sorry you are going through this.
I'd call his GP to get an urgent appt today or failing that call an ambulance myself tbh. It sounds like he might need to be in hospital esp if not drinking.
Just a note on the eating, if it's as bad as you suggest suddenly increasing his intake can be dangerous and cause refeeding syndrome.
Take care xx

greymayday · 15/06/2021 15:20

Sorry to hear this OP Flowers Unfortunately I do have to say that the hospital weren’t very good with my DF when he didn’t eat. He stopped eating for weeks like your dad, with his being due to cancer. When my mum would phone and say he literally hadn’t eaten a single bite of food for days they’d take him in, run some tests and then just discharge him the next day. We all sort of felt like he’d just been written off as a gonner, it was awful.

Will he drink? Could he have Fortisip shakes? They are what my dad ended up exclusively living on.

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