PROSTATE CANCER/PATHOLOGIC FRACTURE: WEIGHT LOSS

What’s wrong with losing weight—particularly if you’ve spent the better part of your life trying to do just that? The problem here is that people who have cancer need to eat. Losing weight means losing strength and the body’s reserve for fighting off illness.

No appetite? Able to eat just a little at a time? The thought of vitamins makes you gag? Then do what pregnant women with bad morning sickness do: Eat less, more often. Have small, nutritious snacks throughout the day. Make every calorie count. Empty calories in sugared iced tea or soda won’t do your body as much good as the calories in juice, for instance; the same goes for the empty calories in a doughnut versus the calories in a muffin or slice of banana bread. Finally, if you just can’t force yourself to eat as much food as your body needs, you may want to try a calorie-packed liquid nutrition supplement like Ensure or Sustacal. Most hospitals have nutritionists available to help you solve dietary problems like these. That’s what these people are there for—use them!

In severe cases of weight loss, doctors can insert a gastrostomy tube, which bypasses the upper digestive tract and allows patients to get much-needed nutrition in liquid form. This tube “really takes the burden from the patient’s shoulders,” says one Johns Hopkins gastroenterologist. This tube provides a painless route for food to get to your stomach. It’s comfortable and discreet— hidden by clothes—and it can be removed when your appetite comes back and you don’t need it anymore.

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