Regaining appetite after radiotherapy

FormerMember
FormerMember
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My husband (who has a sino-nasal squamous cell tumour which is inoperable) finished a series of 25 radiotherapy sessions 8 weeks ago as part of a palliative treatment plan.  He still cannot eat anything resembling normal food and is basically existing on 3 fortified drinks each day plus a tiny amount of porridge in the morning.  He doesn't want to eat and doesn't find any food group palatable or enticing. He takes anti-sickness medication each day but it doesn't seem to help him as he often is quite nauseous.  Should his appetite have now come back or can anyone offer advice to encourage him to eat.  I have run out of inspiration and cooking skills!

  • Hi and welcome to the online community, my own cancer experience has been different to you and husbands but I hoped I could point you to some groups and information that might help. 

    To find other carers there’s the carers only group, and for others with the same cancer as your husbands I was thinking the head and neck cancer group might be good but it you press on group you can look through the cancer types and experience that might catch your eye. 

    You question about appetite might best be directed to a professional (as well as a group with experience) so I was wondering if the Macmillan support line 0808 808 0000 between 8am and 8pm might be the way to go or the ask an expert section on here. There is a similar question and answer that I thought might help so I’m putting the link below for you to have a look.

    https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_experiences/ask_the_expert/ask_dietitian/f/ask_a_dietitian/192133/loss-of-appetite

    I hope some of this helps

    Take care KT