Help with what to eat cancer patient

[Sleepwhatsthazzz]

Hi all, my ddad has cancer and is finding it difficult to eat. Loss of appetite. When he eats causes bloating and pain. Has an awful taste in his mouth. Any suggestions on what all I could try him with? I nearly think if he could eat regularly it would help with the bloating and wind. He has a stoma bag. Thanks

Sorry to hear he’s having trouble OP.

The most nutritious thing you could give him is bone broth. Make it at home with beef bones and chicken feet.

The reality is that nothing probably tastes very nice - my Dad had liver cancer and his appetite lessened dramatically. He did manage odd mouthfuls of plain greek yogurt, and he loved ice cream. And home made soup well blended. Foods that don't involve chewing or effort, basically.

My uncle found scrambled eggs was the easiest thing to est

Not remotely healthy but a lot of family members found Angel Delight to be palatable

My dad is in hospital at the moment (not cancer) and he loved the fresh mango I took him today. I've also fed him jelly with/without fruit pieces.

My mum was the same. She enjoyed homemade soup, ice cream, custard and sorbet.

My dad enjoyed water melon .

Chocolate mousse is tasty and easy. Echo all the others re soft easy swallow foods. Can his stoma nurse advise or refer to a dietician for more detailed advice, he will still need nutrition and a lot of the foods mentioned are high fat/calories but low iron, fibre etc.

If he's able to cope with a bit more, mashed potato and shepherd's pie worked well.

My Mum 'liked' custard, rice pudding, ice cream, and giant chocolate buttons which she allowed to melt on her tongue.

MIL was given Ensure in hospital, when she had stopped eating - although she didn’t have cancer. I believe a protein drink, that looked like a thick yoghurt drink.

Ice cream is a good one and comes in many flavours, as well as being calorific, perhaps ask him his favourite.

Soup in a mug so they don't think they are eating, I could have bought shares in Heinz tomato soup. Also made lattes with lots of full cream milk.

My Dad liked fresh fruits, he kept telling me that everything tasted rubbish.

After chemo, I craved soups, veggie soup or chicken broth. Lots of vitamins and fluids, little fat or sugar. For the first three months I lived on various soups and wholemeal bread.

Chemo can interfere with the taste buds so I wanted stronger flavours too.

When my dad was very poorly with pancreatic cancer, eating was a huge issue for him. His doctor suggested full fat milk mixed with full fat milk powder to boost the calories. Milk shake flavours can also be added, This was something dad could tolerate quite well as he found drinking easier than eating. It did help him get some calories on board,

Thanks everyone, I'll discuss all the suggestions with him tomorrow. It's hard to watch. Food was his main vice, to not enjoy it anymore is awful.

When my DH had cancer treatment he could only tolerate really plain food because of the sickness. We had a lot of plain fish, mashed potato & peas or shepherds pie / fish pie . He could also ( strangely ) manage oven chips which we don’t ever usually have . I used the stalk the supermarket aisles for anything that was plain / bland with the aim of getting as many calories into him as possible . He couldn’t tolerate anything acidic (like fruit juice) , spicy or rich . If your dad can manage mashed potato you can try added a bit of butter or cream or creme fraiche for extraccalories but not so much it makes it rich ; . Also custard or rice pudding might work for dessert . Wishing him well.

I know this is random @Sleepwhatsthazzz but when my DDad couldn't tolerate regular foods when he had colo-rectal cancer, he craved Cheetos, of all things...the baked kind. We finally figured out that it was the strong cheesy flavour that he was enjoying...he never ate them in most of his 92 years...not exactly the healthist choice but we decided it was high time he allowed himself a treat of some junk food. They kind of melt in your mouth so not much effort to chew.
I can't remember if they caused bloating and wind, though, but I don't think so as we were desperate to keep him hydrated which the salt in the curls helped him get thirsty.

I'm so sorry your DDad has cancer. I'm sure you are a big comfort to him. It's an honour to help and care for someone going through this difficult time and trying to make their lives a bit more tolerable. You sound like an amazing daughter ❤️

This is the kind he enjoyed.
I think these are the baked kind, but I imagine he would have liked the puffy kind, too@Sleepwhatsthazzz

Real fruit ice lollies. Aldi did a particularly lovely berry one which my mum loved.

Hi
Sorry to hear about your dad. I guess it might depend where the cancer is and if he is having radio/chemotherapy but my (very) elderly mother has recently been diagnosed with colon cancer. She was given a low residue diet sheet to follow, no fibre so no fruit or veg unless extremely well cooked but lots of dairy, white bread etc. She has to chew everything well and drink water or milk with meals. She’s managing reasonably on it, she doesn’t have a great sense of taste now but put that down to her age. Fruit jellies, either sweets or pots of jelly, seem to be good to take the taste of her medication away. The doctor also prescribed a medicine that helped if she was feeling sick or bloated and liquid paracetamol for any stomach pain