Weight Loss

Hi once again everyone is different personally I put just under 7 llb on prior tk treatment during treatment I didn’t loose anything the dieticians made sure if that as per COVID I was seen weekly and they made sure I didn’t loose weight . Once treatment finished that’s when it gets harder to eat your bodies fully radiated and you do t see medical staff daily. I lost 1 stone snd didn’t put any back on until at least 15 months . But I do know a few who have lost  up to 4 stone so it’s a difficult one. I was fit prior to treatment I cycled at least 100 km a week and walked. 
all you can do is listen snd tske advise from your team. 
for my height I wasn’t particularly over weight I am 5 foot tall 

esst high calorie thjngs I had a double chocolate magnum daily not healthy but i could manage them  double cream in soup as well 

Hazel x

I lost nearly nothing during treatment but half a stone in the weeks after .Just after radiotherapy I think you need to up the game as your body needs lots more calories than you ever had to heal properly. I was amazed at the things I could eat and not put weight on. The cancer holiday was over by about 18 months though and the weight went back on.

While you are in treatment they keep a close eye on you and losing more than 10% of your body weight will have them threatening you with hospitalisation. Most of the weight is lost after you are out of  treatment and not being monitored on a daily basis and that is up to you. The more you maintain proper nutrition the more quickly you heal. 

I took care of myself and by 6 weeks post RT I was eating soft foods quite happily and I celebrated 12 weeks with a steak.....but no glass of wine (I just smelled one) I have known people who have lost much weight and are still being PEG fed and in pain at 12 weeks.

These are all generalisations, of course.

We are all different.

Hi JMango

i lost a couple of stones but I had a tonsillectomy and neck dissection prior to my chemo and radiotherapy starting. And you’re right that the stress and anxiety over diagnosis doesn’t help. I guess it happened over the course of about 7 months. I was quite podgy before and I’m now (6 months post treatment) at a weight which feels comfortable to me. It’s amazing how difficult it is to put on weight when you want to! One easy way is to use the proper full fat , gold top milk which I was amazed to find isn’t illegal yet and is also delicious. Are you having a PEG fitted? I don’t think I would have managed without mine. Everyone is different-I had virtually no pain at all from the treatment but I just didn’t have any appetite. Good luck with your treatment 

Thanks for sharing  Knitty.  Bought some full fat milk and whizzed that up with some bananas for breakfast and lunch. I will try to get some gold top. My mum worked at a milk yard when I was a kid and she used to make me coffee with it. 

Swaying towards having a PEG fitted.  Eating is difficult now and I can just see it getting more difficult.  I know it's another procedure but if you don't use it, you don't use it. I've already been told that I might be hospitalised and I want to avoid that. 

I didn’t really lose any significant weight until after chemoradiation had ended, in fact if anything I put it on during treatment. Afterwards though my body was using so many calories trying to heal itself, and my throat was so sore, that I found it hard to sustain my weight. I survived on Ready Brek and double cream along with custard and double cream for quite a while and still lost about half a stone. (I found it very hard to give these up afterwards!)
You do have to be very careful about losing too much weight during radiotherapy because if your mask becomes too loose they may have to halt your treatment while they make you a new one. As I said, I put a bit of weight on during RT but they were able to adjust the mask upwards by up to about 3mm on the table by sliding in some 1mm sliders between the mask and the table. Even then my face came out all dimpled like a golf ball afterwards as it was a bit tight! 
Wishing you all the very best. 

Hi JMango, I weighed 84.6kgs (definitely overweight at the time) when I started my treatment in July 2020 (30 rounds radiotherapy and 2 of chemotherapy).  About 10 days before my treatment I was fitted with a stomach feeding Peg as I was told that I would more than likely need it and yes I did.  I suffered with mouth ulcers and found food difficult to eat along with feeling nauseous. I was prescribed Enshake drinks to make up with milk which I struggled with as even in normal times I can’t abide milkshakes. The weight started to drop off me so I was also given Ensure 2 drinks to put down the Peg. The 2-3 weeks after treatment finished were the worst and whatever I tried to eat such as yoghurts, rice pudding, soups etc would come straight back up.

I finished my treatment the middle of August and now I’m under close monitoring for the next 5 years. My eating is not the same as before due to lack of taste although it’s improving, lack of saliva which is getting better, so I estimate I eat about 70% of what I used to. My consultant back in February said he would like to see me put a bit of weight back on, but it has since finally stabilised.  I now weigh 68.7kgs so a total loss of 15.9kgs (35lbs), a size 14 clothes now instead of size 18. I feel really well and I’m told that I look it too. 

if I’m honest yes some of the weight loss was due to the treatment but I also gave up alcohol totally and I think a lot of that loss was down to that. I worked out I was probably consuming about 24 units a week, well over the recommended limit for a woman as well as no alcohol I’m no longer  eating crisps and cheese, always had them every day. 

Best wishes 

Carol x

Thanks all.  I met with the RT nurse yesterday for  my mask fitting and was told that I need to hold the weight, so like many of you say, it's after that the weight is lost happens. I don't find food appealing now, who knows how I'll feel 4 weeks into treatment.  I'm going to have a PEG although that makes me feel upset I know in the long run it will be better.  

Hi JMango. Best advise use the peg when you need to and try to forget about appetite food is fuel is best wzy to think. While in treatment the dieticians do all they can do you don’t loose weight it’s afterwards it gets harder. 
Hazel 

I lost a lot of weight and still have a peg after five years. My problem was in finding food to eat. Now as I have written elsewhere I have bought a colander and sieve Kenwood attachment which really purees and mashes the food and am now eating much more types of food. I really hope to get off the peg one day and am eating as much as I can. I cant eat in one go very much so I have to eat a little and often. I am sick a few times from over eating but that cant be helped. One also has to realise that my stomach has been  made a lot smaller at the cancer operation. I am never hungry and when I was in hospital went three days without food each day waiting for an endoscopy. 

I was 16 1/2 stone in January 2018, about 15 1/2 stone when 1st noticed a problem in early April, 14 1/2 stone when went in for 1st operation in July, about 13  stone when leaving hospital 7 weeks later and about 12 stone after finishing radiotherapy in October.

Was only really eating fortisips through a Peg for 6 months and got as low as 10 stone 2 in April 2019

Started eating again and put 2 stone on in a year (April 2020) and have since put another 1/2 stone on and are  now about 13 stone

Didn't think I would have to worry about watching my weight again when I was just over 10 stone, but have had to IN the last 12 months