ideas please. No effort to eat foods

[BecauseIlovehim]

DH doing fairly well in the new hospital. Lots of new treatments and another chemo but he’s knackered and mostly asleep, he’s not got the energy to eat meals, find chewing difficult, yogurt and creme caramel are about all I’ve got into him, he says porridge too much to chew.

the hospital are going to try him on puréed foods tomorrow but I wondered if baby foods would be a good idea. He’s desperate to eat as he knows it’s an important part of surviving.

any ideas dear mnsneters? Literally got to be no effort, nutrious and just slide down the throat (he doesn’t want to drink the ensure type replacement meals).

Homemade baked egg custard might be worth trying, made with cream, milk and eggs. Mash it up a little to make it easier to swallow. Try to use gold top whole milk for the calories.

Pear / apple / mixed berry purées, custard

Clotted cream ice-cream, can't remember the brand name. Or work through some Haagen-Das flavours. Veggie or fruit purees for taste but you can't use them alone as they are not calorific enough. It's hard work eating in this situation. Little and often works well. The hospital I know best has ice-cream at every mealtime for this reason, thick creamy yoghurts will also be good. Anything dairy, plus 'extras' in between main meals. Eating volumes will be tiring which is why calorie-dense foods are needed, and definitely get the SALT to help you, just mushing up a bit of not very nutritious hospital dinner won't be enough.

I'm just going to say again that you need the dietitian, not the SALT, or at least you need the dietitian more than the SALT.

My son didn't like the Fortisip's he was prescribed but is happier with these which you can buy individually from the supermarket or in a pack online. They are big but last 24 hours when opened and kept in the fridge I think.

I don't know if it was psychological for my son as the Fortisip's taste fine to me.

These drinks are high protein so I would check with the Dr that they are safe for your husband and won't strain his kidneys.

What is his objection to prescribed nutrition drinks? Is it the taste or other objections? The liquid versions are much nicer than powders in my opinion as the powders cab be gritty still as drinks.

When I'm fed up with Aymes, the Aldi babyfood pouches are lovely. The fruit ones are delicious on their own or mixed with yoghurt or ice cream. The rice pudding ones are lovely too.

Wow. Thank you for so many ideas and useful information.

I’ve managed to pick out a lot in a quick read. I’ll be back to read in more depth and will ask today for dietitian or SALT.

he’s loves a CF story off mumsnet so I’ll be sure to tell him you are all helping me. Thank you xxxx

He needs the dietitian. I'm really sorry to keep banging on about this but they're different jobs and I want you to be able to focus on getting what he needs most as quickly as possible.

Thanks. Will try organise that today.

I've tasted a lot of baby foods and they aren't exactly appetising so I'd home make stuff.

After my chemo my taste buds were dulled so I wanted things that were quite strong flavoured - with ginger or fennel or mint. Not chilli though as it was an irritant for a while.

I had hummus with mint, and apple custard with cinnamon. And I was told not to lose weight so I had porridge with single cream and sultanas.

I'm in a similar position but am at a home which makes things easier.

I've been having little pots of custard and rice pudding.

The dietician suggested to me that I drink milk and add cream to soups. She also suggested cold puddings like pana cotta and chocolate mousse.

My other tip is- go out from what your husband already likes. So if he likes chocolate, I'd get some chocolate to snack on, or an Aero mousse or a chocolate dessert. If he likes milk puddings, then rice pudding or panna cotta, same with lemon. I think a lot of the thing with these things is flavour, when you are ill or feel sick certain things aren't appetising. I couldn't eat much with cream in. If you can find yoghurts and puddings in flavours he already likes, you can leave them in the fridge. For meals, the pureed dinners may be ok, the mashed potato is usually good in hospital!

Also bear in mind that the NHS meal replacement drinks can be a bit grim, but some vitamin drops and a nice milkshake might get you some of the way, one of my children also had different meal replacements we found online, like protein drinks and they tend to taste better than, say a vanilla Fortisip which is the work of the devil.

DH was peg fed after treatment for head and neck cancer but we were told important to keep trying to eat.
The Ensure type drinks come in lots of flavours and chocolate was the least objectionable.
Dietician advice was to add cream or full fat milk, or milk powder to anything where practical.
Very rich, cream ice cream might be a good start.
We worked up from soup, yogourt, etc to creamy mashed potatoes with gravy.
Wishing you all the very best.

One not mentioned so far is silken tofu. Slides down easily like creme caramel but no need to be refrigerated.
Three times the protein of creme caramel but not as high as Greek yoghurt.
Tastes neutral to add flavouring if you like.
Satonoyuki J-Basket Tofu 300g - ASDA Groceries

I live on a diet comprising Fortisip drinks. They're much nicer than Ensure. They will have them in the hospital. Very high protein, high calorie. They are another milkshake type drink but have various flavours.

Complan do drinks and soups which are also palatable. The hospital should have them.

You really have to shout out to get what you need. I've had a perforated bowel and they were still offering me bread and dinners. You have to advocate here because it's really poor in hospital regards meeting dietary needs.

Have a look at Huel. They do powder you can make into shakes but also ready made drinks. You can buy the ready made drinks at some supermarkets now. They are supposed to be full meal equivalents

I think smoothies made with the high fat and calorie yoghurts (like the West Country clotted cereal ones).

My mum had strawberry smoothies when she had cancer. If they are thick enough you can put onto the lips and they be licked off if they find it easier than opening their mouth at times of extreme fatigue.

Egg custard. Scrambled egg. Rice pudding. Mashed potato enriched with beaten egg and grated cheese (cook it through).

You can add a couple of teaspoons of unflavored protein powder to cooled soups or to cold water and whizz it into the soup to blend it.
It can also be added to cooked custard (once chilled a lot), smoothies, etc
Flavoured protein powder and medical meal replacement (even more nutrients) powder (Sustagen here in Australia) can be sprinkled onto Vanilla ice cream and mixed in for extra calories. (They’re bloody horrible as a drink, so the more creative you get the better)

Hopefully things are looking up now but if not I would ask about supplementary feeding via an NG tube to support during treatment - he can go home with this. Sometimes it is incredibly hard to eat in treatment and a tube alleviates some of that pressure. It isn’t permanent and you can look after it yourselves. It helps ensure he has enough calories and protein and can increase appetite.

My mum was terminal and was not eating but I managed to coax her to eat very soft ice cream ( not even really holding its shape ) and pureed pineapple , and she said she really enjoyed it .

I am no expert, just thinking what might work.

What does he generally like?

I am thinking crème caramel might be nice as others have suggested

Maybe a good quality heated up tinned consommé?

If he can tolerate something with a bit more body, how about gazpacho? M and S and Ocado sell really nice ones.

I am so sorry you are both going through this.

Dietician AND SALT. It’s important to understand if he is in danger if he has food that needs chewing or if he is just weak/ tired. I would focus on flavours that he likes, maybe varied flavours too. Perhaps an aperitif ( small alcoholic drink) would boost his appetite too.
Everyone’s taste buds are different and what one person enjoys would not suits another. Try different textures and flavours of the high energy foods until you find what he enjoys. Chilling drinks/ food can make them more enjoyable too.

The dietician came and organised some interesting looking puréed meals but he wasn’t keen so is trying hard to eat properly, has a fortified drink thing and something pink they call a shot.

thanks for all your ideas, things are a lot better now.