How to cook for a terminally ill mother who has nausea

Hi there. My husband struggled to eat in the last few months of his life. He said nothing tasted nice and felt sick all the time.

Can you ask her cancer team to see a dietician. Ours were accessed through the hospital at first then when his treatment stopped, it was via the district nurses. He had these nutritional shakes, would that be possible? 

As he deteriorated, they started to say eat what you want, and dont worry about nutritional balance, get calories in. He was losing weight by then,  so it was full fat milk etc. He didnt have diabetes so a chat with a dietician might help you give her food that doesnt affect that.

Its so hard when they stop really eating much or go off food they used to like.

Thank you I hadn't thought to talk to a dietician, so I'll ask the hosice services and the cancer team. I asked my vegetarian and vegan friends about the protein, and protein powder was mentioned which I guess goes into the shakes.

I'm sorry to hear about your Muum. My husband is similarly diabetic and it's complicated meeting his food /tastes since his diagnosis.

He has been supported by a dietitian through the hospital, which was helpful.

I know that he was advised to eat what he can after a certain point. But yes as Malengwa says, getting the most calories into him is more important now.  

It's really hard to keep up with what my husband wants to eat. He does like a milkshake (at the moment at least!) and we can add protein from the hospital dietitian. 

I don't have an answer for you but I'm in a similar situation. My mum is under palliative care for advanced lung cancer and she's hardly eating anything. Up until about ten days ago she was happy to eat cottage pie, soft boiled egg, poached egg and so on - the last couple of days she's been unwilling to eat anything except ice cream. I understand the concept of letting a terminally ill person eat what they want, but I feel so helpless. I hope you're bearing up ok.

Thank you for your reply. It a difficult time of year because we want food to warm them up as well as well as having nutritional value. I'm sorry you feel helpless and there isn't more support for both of you. 

Thank you for your reply. I will try to talk to a dietician. 

So sorry 

my mum isn’t diabetic but really struggling to eat much and to enjoy food 

Worrying abt protein vitamins and getting all the nutrients needed was forefront primarily instinctively I guess 

now with no treatment no timeline and a shock diagnosis after remission from liver cancer in 2016 to now delivered in acute ward on 21st December afyer kidney was failing 

she has been sent home with no knowledge of it’s real severity 

may the end of the day any food at all especially with such small amounts is better than nothing 

Be it one chocolate from a tray of Thorntons or a half crumpet with cheese or anything 

it’s getting past the health side and putting the reality of it first 

I talk to her about food in casual conversation eg 

oo you know what George had the other night this lovely small Camembert and these crackers that were really melt in your mouth he’d never tried before etc

it sparked her interest in food outside of the normal for her

also I tht I’d take some dairy Lea breadstick and cheese snack things with me making out they were for me but let her know is bought a few if she wanted to try one and that it doesnt matter if only partially eaten 

this approach has definitely helped being her appetite notions back 

encouraging in non forceful like ways opposed to over care zealous way , which is really hard not to do from a place of love might just help in a similar way 

Thank you. Christmas has been easier than expected, but mum needed to eat in another room (not the kitchen) today because of the cooking smells. Each day brings new challenges, also rewards.