Keep track of everything related to a cancer patient's appetite
His experience with nausea and vomiting may change constantly, making it tough to figure out what to serve on any given day, says Redwing Keyssar, palliative care coordinator for Seniors-at-Home, a program of Jewish Family and Children's Services in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"You need to be observant and notice everything that seems to contribute to the nausea and keep track of what you're seeing," Keyssar says. She recommends keeping a log and writing down "all the strange little details," such as times of day that he was able to eat or not eat, and anything you notice that was going on prior to a bout of nausea. "Write down everything -- 'I tried to give my father this, and he got sick,' or 'at 3 p.m. three days in a row he felt sick.' Don't rely on memory," she says.
After doing this for a few days, you might notice that he has a better appetite in the late morning, so you'll start serving an early lunch. Or you might observe that certain foods seem to trigger a "nausea backlash" a little later, even if he feels fine while eating them.
Keeping careful track of someone's battle with nausea and lack of appetite will also help you work with his doctor to get more help, Keyssar says. "If you become better at assessment and communicating what you're seeing, it will help his doctor think about what to try next."
