Guest guest Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Sometimes I feel like the husband should have a say in this. Can you imagine your husband surviving a heart attack then refusing to exercise or eat better? How would you feel? --- Doris wrote: > > I am probably going to answer this differently than the rest but my > mother pushed food on my father when he had liver cancer and he was > miserable. I spoke with his doctor and he told me to try to get her > to > let him alone. He said that the stomach generates some kind of > chemical that helps with pain if it is not full. I did not check to > see if he knew what he was talking about but my dad did not have much > pain and that was a relief. He ate what he wanted and evidently what > his body needed. Bottom line is that it is your wife's body and > her > decision about food. Encourage her but don't push. She will > appreciate you more for not pushing. At least that is the way I > would feel. In the meantime, ask her doctor about how much and what > she should be eating and let him be the one to tell her. We can all > have a love/hate relationship with our doctors and it's okay; we > need > just the love with family and especially with our spouses. Doris > > > > > > > > > A year ago, my wife's ob/gyn detected a 1.2 cm mass in her breast > with > > a mammogram. It was biopsied and found to be malignant. We had a > > lumpectomy, then a sentinel node biopsy (in that order). The > > lymphectomy pathology report was negative. She then endured a > > treatment of " chemo lite " followed by radiation. During the > > radiation, she took Tamoxifen. The oncologist said that she had a > 96% > > chance of survival. We were VERY optimistic! > > > > A week after radiation, the oncologist ordered a blood test to > > determine the baseline of her CEA. To our devastating surprise, > the > > report came back elevated. The following CAT scan showed two > lesions > > in her liver. The breast cancer had matastisized. > > > > Luckily, a PET scan showed no other tumors in my wife. Her two > tumors > > were also on one side of her liver. She has since had a liver > > resection where 60% of her liver was removed, taking the tumors > with > > it. That was 5 weeks ago. She is still recovering from the > surgery. > > > > Since the chemotherapy induced menopause, she is now taking > Arimidex. > > > > My problem, other than the obvious, is this. Until her liver > > regenerates, she can't stand chemo. It may be two more months > before > > we begin that. In this period of wait time, I'm trying to support > her > > by reading about nutrition and its role in preventing and fighting > > cancer. We've got a Champion juicer and I buy organic fruits and > > vegetables to juice. Other than occasional fruit juices, though, > she > > doesn't like the taste of vegetable juices. I can put in small > > amounts of vegetables into the fruits when I juice, though, but she > > isn't getting enough. I can't convince her to eat or drink more. > > I've also tried to give her supplements, but she doesn't want them, > > either, other than a few vitamins and minerals. I'm afraid that > her > > cancer will reoccur. I love her very much and don't want to lose > her. > > I want to convince her to take nutrition seriously and recover. > > > > I don't know if I should push harder, or back off. I feel like a > > husband of a woman that has lung cancer but continues smoking.... > > except it is even worse because I believe nutrition may help her. > > > > What do you think I should do? > > > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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