stomach cancer treatment

My DH aunt was diagnosed with stomach cancer and has lost 85% of her stomach.. basically she has the effect of a gastric bypass on a person who was not over weight. (actually- very slim and physically fit) I gave her as much info as I could, and suggestions on nutrition, supps etc, but am a little worried about her. the hospital gave her some info and she is to follow our 6 meals a day, protein first to avoid malnutrition, and I told her as her "pouch" stretched she should probably eat moe carbs than I do to keep her weight up. anybody have any other ideas or know much about this issue????

Was there any loss of intestine, or just the stomach itself? She shouldn't have a problem absorbing the nutrients right, just getting enough in. I would suggest the ensure or similair style supplement drinks, not our traditional low sugar low carb protein mixes. The calories, sugars, carbs, and nutritional vitamins are considerably higher in those little containers and are more geared towards keeping weight on than being protein supplements. And she could always add a scoop of a protein powder to kill 2 birds so to speak. I do not have any experience with this, but just remember reading the label of one of those little bottles and how it did not fit my criteria, but it would fit someone in her situation. Hopefully others will have more information and suggestions for her. Mic

She cannot have sugar as they told her she will dump. while she has her intestine as far as we know, she has the stoma that will allow the rapid stomach emptying into the small intestine that causes dumping. that is one of the rpoblems with her and they said she may lose 20% of her already low weight. I am mostly worried about her becoming malnourished as she goes into radiation treatments, and put her onto the protein shakes,made with milk to help plump her back up a little. I figure if I gain on them maybe she will too...

HI willow--my friend and next door neighbor also has stomach, pancreas and kidney cancer (she's only 44 and naturally very trim)--I gave her some of my protein powder and she mixes it with low sugar ice cream to make a milkshake--the ice cream has more fat and calories than just plain milk--she also snacks on noodle and rice soups, and mashed potatoes and potato soup. If she can tolerate butter-you could add a little extra to her foods for the extra calories. I make homemade chicken noodles for Deb- I boil the chicken with the skin on and then remove the skin before adding noodles-carrots, salt, pepper and some butter-(I put onion, herbs and celery in while the chicken is cooking to flavor the broth but I remove it before adding the noodles),and she likes it a lot. I don't know about your aunt but my friend says meat really hurts and causes painful digestion so the protein powder is very helpful (she needs to limit her protein due to the kidney involvement so that's also a factor). Can your aunt eat chocolate?--maybe she could try some of the sugar free chocolate candies-like Russell Stover-or some sugar free cookies to boost her calorie intake. I know my doctor has told us to really limit them because they are very high in calories even though they are sugar free. Veggies can be very painful to digest and often taste terrible to chemo/radiation patients-so hopefully she is taking some good vitamins. My friends doc has told her to eat whatever she can get down--sometimes she eats buttered noodles or mashed potatoes for breakfast -anything is better than nothing during this time. Cream of wheat or oatmeal made with whole milk, brown sugar, raisins and butter is yummy and also nutritious. She has lost a lot of weight but she keeps trying to eat when she can---it just breaks my heart for her to have to go through all of this. I keep making food for her--if she mentions something that sounds good, I make it---sometimes she eats it and sometimes she doesn't--but it's worth trying--I tell her it won't hurt my feelings if it sounds good, and then later tastes awful. I know she can't help how the foods tastes to her. So, if you can, just keep trying to fix whatever you can to suit her tastebuds,,,,LOL......What about yogurt?--The Dannon Activia is very good and also helps with constipation (a big problem for chemo/radiation patients). I even eat 1 every day-(I don't dump on sugar and my doc. says its ok as long as I only eat just one daily- I eat no other sugar products!) I had horrible constipation and cramping with miserable gas pains--I was having to take laxatives regularly and I hated doing that--since I started the yogurt--I'm fine. Hope some of this helps-- I'll keep you and your aunt in my thoughts----Wanda