Hi,
I've been a member of the group for a while now, but messaging for the first time. I have detailed my mum's diagnosis and journey in my profile.
So, after finishing treatment and being told the cancer had gone, back in November, my mum was hoping that things would start to get back to normal.
She's struggling to put weight on and despite trying and wanting to eat, her tastebuds are all over the place. She also gets very fatigued still. More recently her last few blood tests showed she is neutropenic - a bit of a surprise as we thought this was a side effect during treatment, not months after.
After checking to see whether a lack of vitamins was causing this (because of not eating properly) the consultant ruled that out and asked for a bone marrow investigation. We will hopefully get the results by the end of the week. We were told the reason for the test was to 'reassess diagnosis'... this made us feel a little apprehensive,but trying not to worry too much before we get the results.
I was just wondering whether anyone else had had a similar experience months after finishing treatment? And whether anyone else struggled to put weight back on?
Many thanks,M
Hi and an official welcome to the Community but sorry to see the problems your mum is having. From looking at your profile your mum has had a hard time and must be an amazing strong character.
A simple answer to your final question would be yes and yes. My treatment journey was rather different (see my profile) but for sure the effects of chemo did last for far longer than you would think and I did indeed struggle to eat.
So being Neutropenic months after treatment does happen a lot and could be down to many reasons so rechecking everything is very important to ensure nothing has been missed is a good precaution. I indeed required blood transfusions as part of my various post treatment times.
When I was not eating I lived for 3-4 months on a grazing diet in an attempt to keep some protein going into my body.
First I hated protein drinks so never had them so lived on very small plates even cups of Scrambled Egg or porridge, good home made liquidised soups always with double cream mixed through. Mashed Potatoes with Double Cream and Cheese mixed through and full cream milk to drink. Small potions of minced beef or gravy mixed through the Mash often worked but not much else.
Her tastebuds could take some time to recover but trying some bland tasteless food can be a way forward.
Your mum is a very low weight so her stomach will most likely have shrunk and can not deal with any quantity of food so even a cup of soup may be a struggle but it is all about persistence. If I did not eat what I was given my wife was back in an hour with something else, all designed to trick my body and my mind into eating......I do actually thing there is a mental challenge in this as well.
Lets hope that they can get an answer to her low Neuts.
Keep posting as we are here to help out as best as we can.
((hugs)£
