Esophageal Cancer

Weight lost after cancer surgery

07/12/2008 02:07PM

Question:

my husband has lost around 35 pounds after his cancer surgery, he has a G-tube and is feed all night threw it. and tube feedings threw the day. the question is" how many calories will he need a day to get his weight back up. we are at around 2500 a day all that is doing is keeping him at the same weight. sure hope you can help me

Answer:

Thanks for your question. I am sorry to tell you that I cannot provide MNT (medical nutrition therapy) over the internet. Without knowing your husband's height, weight and full medical history, I also can't predict his caloric requirements. I will tell you that patients with this type of cancer tend to have very high calorie needs.

I recommend you ask your husband's physician for a referral to a Registered Dietitian who can review his medical history, current dietary intake, tolerance to tube feeding and weight gain goals.

If his MD does not have an RD to refer to, you can locate one in your area through the American Dietetic Association web site:

http://www.eatright.org

Look under "Find a Nutrition Professional" to locate an RD. Good luck!

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Response by:

Lisa Cicciarello Andrews, MEd, RD, LD
Adjunct Faculty
College of Nursing
University of Cincinnati