Needing help

buccanbiker
buccanbiker Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi i had weight loss surgery about 2 years ago and have now been diagnosed terminally ill with bowel cancer. I have a lot of trouble gettinh enough nutrients because of surgery any ideas. Looking to gain weight but tend to get a stomach first rather than gain muslce

Replies

  • Carnhot
    Carnhot Posts: 367 Member
    Hi. I am sorry about your illness. When my husband had somewhat similar nutrition issues following surgery, the doctor prescribed some really high calorie nutrition drinks. We are in the UK, so this was on the NHS. I don't know where you are.
  • Paleodiet4beginnersdotcom
    Paleodiet4beginnersdotcom Posts: 31 Member
    edited December 2015
    Hey,

    I am really sorry to hear about your illnes.

    Have you looked into the Paleo diet?

    I think the high protein approach will add muscle and weight and not just belly fat

    Alfie

    [edited by MyFitnessPal Moderators]
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Have you talked to your treatment team? Honestly, I understand that you are reaching for support and help, and likely scared. My suggestion would be to start with your physicians and ask for referral to a registered dietician for support and suggestions that are appropriate for your specific needs. I would imagine they can recommend some high nutrient supplements that will help you reach your goals. I am so sorry you have so much going on right now. I hope you can get some answers.
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    When my mil was fighting colon cancer she had a hard time gaining/maintaining weight. Mostly due to the chemo treatments. She found she could stomach protein shakes though and would beef them up with high calorie addins like coconut oil and peanut butter and sip them all day. Could you try something like that for in between your meals?? I know often the Ensure brand is reccomended but it seems to be mostly sugar and carbs. With a good protein powder and a blender you can have fairly high cal drinks that might digest faster allowing you to get in more cals that will help you. I find spinach, cucumber, lettuce, even peppers all blend well into a shake as well as pretty much any fruit. Add in some yogurt or milk of any type and maybe hemp/chia/oatmeal for carbs, healthy fats like nut butters and coconut oil raise the cal levels. Talk to your docs and see what they reccomend. You do seem to have a special set of circumstances. See if they can forward you to someone in a better place to help maybe?
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I'm so sorry. DO talk to your treatment team - they can give you better advice than anyone. When my dad was terminally ill, he had a serious problem with swallowing and had a really hard time getting enough calories. As someone else suggested, he did high calorie drinks. He also added fat to everything - the anti-MFP diet. So my mom added cream cheese to his eggs. He had cream or olive oil or butter on everything. Peanut butter. Fat has more calories per swallow than anything else you can eat. Find those you can digest most easily. Good luck!
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Take 1 ea. Enzymedica Digest Gold capsule with every meal. Eat a Ketogenic Diet to help keep cancers from
    coming back.
  • sadrina1986
    sadrina1986 Posts: 30 Member
    Hi, I'm really sorry for your illness and I do hope you will feel better soon.
    For being not an expert, here are only suggestions, please talk to your treatment team: have you tried to switch to raw food (fruit/vegetables) diet, or adopt raw food to most of your diet? If you have a hard time digesting the vegetables/fruits, probably you can try smoothie or even juice. Beets and berry are very good antioxidant resources that fight against cancer. Processed food is not a good choice. Try to go everything organic and natural.
  • ladybosie
    ladybosie Posts: 41 Member
    I'm sorry for you illness. I'd talk to your treatment team, because the way you're going to gain muscle instead of fat is through strength training, but I'm not qualified to recommend anything to you. Where the weight you gain falls is all about genetics, if you just want to avoid gaining all your weight in one place (i.e., you can't really control it).

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