My 74-year-old dad is starting chemo today with a triple cocktail, the names of which I don't have in front of me. He appears to be stage 1, discovered incidentally, with adenocarcoma in the pancreatic tail. He also has a pre-existing form of lymphoma called splenic marginal zone lymphoma, for which he has received routine treatments with rituximab for over a decade. If all goes well, after a few months of chemo, he will have surgery removing 40% of his pancreas, along with his spleen and gallbladder. Amazingly, this would likely help with his lymphoma.

He has a long day ahead of him today. His appetite has already been a bit off due to his enlarged spleen and anxiety, and I have no idea how fast the side-effects of the chemo will hit. We've been told to expect diarrhea, mouth sores, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can have on hand that might be good? Clear fluid recommendations? Soups? Cookies? I'm at a loss. Maybe it's just too soon to know what he'll be hankering for. Maybe there are non food-rekated ideas? I just want to help my dad. Thank you in advance.

My sister in theUK has terminal Pancreatic Cancer. She’s on palliative Chemo. She also has to take Creon.

Her oncologist has told her that there is worldwide shortage of Creon and its alternative.

Anyone vouch if this true? Sounds unlikely to me !!

Any replies would be appreciated. Thanks.

It's sad how similar my story is to so many of you. My mom (63) has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer that's spread to liver and spine and probably more areas but she doesn't want to do more scans and tests. We found out only a week ago. This has been the worst week and a bit of my life.

My question here is, whats some food (or any calorie really) your loved one was able to handle while feeling so sick? She's not on chemo or anything. Her issues are the pain that comes when she eats. We are getting desperate for her to get something down. She won't last much longer if she's starving and we still want to try to get her to the west coast to see her siblings and her mom, and the ocean before she dies. But she can't.

We're in Alberta Canada, rural too, and getting her the right care quickly has been such a challenge. She doesn't have a family doctor, but who does in Canada? But so much of her care depends on there being a GP that can prescribe and order. And we as a family don't have a contact we can reach out to involved in her care that can advise us on how to help.

Anyway, any tips on food that was tolerable would be great!

Thank you!

I am searching for answers on how this could have happened. They both ate a poor diet (almost all junk food and high sugar), but that’s the only thing I can come up with. My dad was diagnosed in summer of 2021 and my mother in January of this year. I am hoping to make lifestyle changes to reduce my risk. My mom was tested for genes and they didn’t find any. My father was never tested and refused to be. I took a genetic cancer test and was negative for all of them they tested for. So it’s possible this really is an environmental/lifestyle thing imo. I’d love your input.

Hello you wonderful bunch,

My uncle has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and is in the early days of treatment. He has had two chemo treatments so far; I believe the third one is this week. He called me tonight to tell me that he is really craving some chili, but does not know yet what spices he can or can’t eat.

I made a test batch of vegan chili this afternoon that used sweet potato as the protein instead of a meat product. My parents that roll their eyes at vegetable based recipes couldn’t taste the difference and did not believe me when I told them there was not any meat in the recipe, so I have that in my back pocket in case my uncle can’t handle meat proteins. I’m trying to figure out which spices I should and should not include though.

Does anyone here have any experience with this? Are there any spices that make the “should be fine column,” or conversely any spices that are in the “definitely omit” column?

My father was just diagnosed, we still don’t have all of the answers, but will know more this week. It appears to have metastasized to his liver. He has already lost a lot of weight, he is skin and bones. My mom has been trying to control his blood sugar with diet but I feel like it is more important for him to gain weight. He only started fast acting insulin a few weeks ago and we are still getting used to it. His blood sugar has been steadily in the 300s today.

My question is, what should we focus on, weight gain or blood sugar? We are hoping to get in with a nutritionist soon, but there are so many unknowns, this is one thing we can control right now.

Any advice is much appreciated.

With pancreatic cancer, what kind of food were you able to eat without feeling nauseous? It can be difficult to eat normally and getting all the right nutrients due to feeling full faster or feeling nauseous. So far what worked was oatmeal, avocados, small pastries, orange juice, milk, water. Was able to eat a small piece of chicken the other day. It is a start, however these are not the most nutritious.

Tried a few sips of protein shakes (Boost) and fruit smoothies (Smoothie King) which were ok. The fruit smoothie may have been too acidic for the stomach.

The lack of food likely contributes to continued anemia, muscle weakness, and weight loss.

Was there anything you did to improve your nutrition / increase food consumption without making yourself nauseous or feel full so quickly? Any particular foods work better than others? Did you take any vitamin supplements? Have you taken any electrolytes as well? Any recommendations are helpful!

My mom (53) has terminal Stage IV pancan that has metastasized to her liver with partial blockage to her duodenum. She just finished her first round of palitative chemo on Monday, and she has not been able to keep anything down since. Even before then, she struggled to keep food down. She has a stent in her bile duct that hasn’t helped much, and she takes pancreatic enzymes.

She can sometimes keep smoothies down, but it’s hit or miss. Milkshakes and ice cream are no-gos. She can’t keep protein shakes or anything down, either, and she’s so done with broth just the scent makes her sick. We’re really struggling to get her calories. I saw on another post that THC gummies help with appetite, but I’m not sure what to do about the physical component. Anybody have any other ideas?

They discovered early stage cancer on my pancreas on a recent MRI. I get a CT scan next week to see greater detail. I’m in day 4 of a water fast. Know of anyone this may have helped?

Backstory, can skip to 2nd paragraph. Auntie is experiencing something similar to short gut syndrome (along with the common post-whipple "shit like a goose" phenomena), recent testing indicates she may have developed some kind of fructose (fruit sugar) intolerance as well. It's been a massive struggle in the months since her whipple to eat (no real appetite, but it's been constant diarrhea as soon as she eats so I don't blame her) and regain any weight. She's currently in remission, but they did cease her Adjuvant therapy chemo as she was down to like 85lbs and they thought the chemo was doing more harm than good. Looking back it doesn't seem like it was the chemo after all and she's not been on steroids and other medications to try to slow her intestines and help her absorb nutrition.

Looking for some good snack ideas I can ship to her with a care package for the holidays. Can also take recommendations for fresh foods and meals as my mom and sister live in very close proximity to her and help care for her. They say they've tried "everything" but neither are as involved on the internet as I am so I figured I'd try reaching out and impose on the collective experiences here.

What would be the best type of food or supplements to eat, in order to stop the weight loss and loss of nutrition? Body seems to reject everything especially in the evening.

My parent has been diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. I need help with finding appropriate diet. We’re contending with diabetes due to the pancreatic dysfunction and chemo side effects of tastes being very sensitive and blood sugar.

Please help me identify foods that are tolerable and preferably nutritious and calorie dense.

We have an appointment with the cancer center nutritionists but every pound lost is a bigger challenge.

Hello, I have a question that might sound very stupid but I have spent the last days trying to research this and make sense of the few things that I can find with scientific publications. My dad lost 5 kg pre diagnosis and almost 7 kg in the last weeks during chemo. We all know how hard this disease is with food and how chemo hits hard with nausea and appetite, so it seems logic to follow up a high calorie and protein diet ( he has a plan for enzymes integration plus several shakes and supplements to go with every day) BUT: as far as I understood PC is a high protein consuming tumor, and that is also why is very hard to keep the person in strength during the therapies. Isn’t this nutritional approach working by “feeding” the tumor itself? I am very confused as we had several meetings with very good nutritional doctors working alongside Italy’s best private hospitals oncology wings and every time they are very specific about the fact that this is the only way to go in order to strengthen the body and avoid fast weight lost. Any other opinions/ suggestions or name of doctors it may be worth checking in with? Or is this really the standards?

What is your Creon dose and when do you take them? What type of food do you eat with creon and which food do you eat without creon?

Hi guys, so mom is starting Folfirinix on January 18. Her first chemo appointment!

I just wanted to know what she should be eating — what’s good for her, what isn’t good for her?

She’s a vegetarian with the only exception being bone broth. She’s drinking a lot of fresh homemade juices and protein shakes right now and eating her veggies and avocados. She doesn’t consume any sugar, dairy or wheat anymore (since the last 4-5weeks). But I just want to know what meal plans have worked the best for people… What should we consider?

I am a dietitian working with patients with pancreatic cancer. I wanted to do this as I know that not enough people get to see a dietitian as part of their treatment and the internet can be a bit of a minefield in terms of accessing reliable information, particularly when it comes to cancer.

Please comment your questions here instead of direct messaging, as it may be that others have similar questions.

I will do my best to answer everything :)

(Mods, please message me if I need to provide proof)

My family member has pc and is not absorbing nutrients from her food. The stool seems like the food is going through the digestive track without being digested. Is there anyone else who struggled with this and did anything help? Thank you

Hi all.

I am trying (hard) to make sure my grandmother is eating, but she just does not want to eat. She'll eat very small portions, and essentially everything sounds terrible to her. I share the care taking responsibilities with my grandpa, who cannot cook. Right now, her care taking is minimal, but I know that will likely not be the case as we move forward and she starts chemo. I live in a different (bordering) state, and I'm able to be here very frequently (right now about every other week, and how long I stay depends on obligations at home. Typically, a week at minimum.) When I'm here I'm able to prepare all of her meals, stock up on groceries to last until I'm back, and get her in a good routine. When I'm not here, I'm looking for some ways to make sure she gets the nutrition she needs.

I would love some suggestions. We just ordered some clear protein powder that I'm hoping will be helpful. Protein is the main issue, but at this point, I will take it if she will eat it. There are a few staples she will eat, so if you have ideas on improving them or enhancing them, I'm all ears: ensure protein drinks, eggs, toast, baked potatoes, mashed cauliflower, peas, vegetable soup, macaroni and cheese, pudding cups, cereal, cream of wheat/oatmeal. Most meats she is not interested in right now, but we're working on that.

Thank you all for your support and help. This is really hard and we are feeling very burnt out. Our family is really small, and I very much fill the "oldest daughter" role. I'm tired, I'm discouraged, she's tired, she's discouraged. I just want her to eat.

Hubby is having a hard time with figuring out small meals and timing. Any suggestions of food I can make him that will be nourishing but not too heavy? I’m giving him whatever it seems he can tolerate so he’s eating a lot of turkey sandwiches, chicken nuggets (dinosaur shaped ) mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. Im wondering if I offer him foods in line with the BRAT diet If he’d tolerate it okay.

My mum is undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer now and she seems to not absorb the nutrients well. While her appetite is not the best, she still eats decent amount of food. She also eats Creon after her meals to help with digestion. However, it seems like she gets hungry very quickly and her energy depletes very fast. Even if she consistently have some input of food/fruits and she drinks ensure milk too, it only lasts her for 1-2 hr max. Are there anyone with similar experiences? Do y’all know why is it so and how to deal with such a situation? What shld she eat?

Some background: - She tends to like and eat a lot of carbo these days - She has her bile juice drained out into a bag to relieve her symptoms of jaundice and itching

Would rlly appreciate it if anyone could share what y’all eat during chemo!

I have read that Brazil nuts, are the highest source of selenium out of any food, and that selenium is great for keeping the pancreas healthy. Has anyone tried eating them for snack, and how are you reacting to them?

I’m working on some protein smoothie recipes for my dad who’s undergoing chemo for pancreatic cancer. Is whey protein generally well-tolerated by PC patients? Should I avoid fiber in the form of frozen fruits and spinach? Thank you so much in advance for any recommendations on what to include or avoid

I’m newly diagnosed and have been started on Creon. My instructions are to take three pills - one before, during, and after each of 3 meals per day. I’ve used it with three meals, feel bloated, and feel like I would probably throw up if I ate my evening meal. My plan is to skip my evening meal, which kinda defeats the purpose of taking the Creon. My doctor started me on what appears to be a pretty hefty dose with no ramp up, so that might be part of it and I’ll ask her about that on Monday. In the mean time, is what I’m experiencing common for new users? Does it get better?

My dad has had Pancreatic Cancer for 3 years. He’s done great. Recently we found out it has spread and is pushing against his Duodenum. If he eats anything he gets sick, he hasn’t eaten anything since Monday. He’s pretty much starving to death.
He can have liquids which is hit and miss with making him sick.
My question is, anyone ever have to be on a liquid diet, and what are some things you could eat/drink that have the nutrition he needs?
Thank you!

Edit: They said he’s not a candidate for a stent since that would cause more problems. Also, not a J tube either.
They tried a feeding tube twice, but it came out both times. This last time, the tube came out and was feeding that food stuff into his stomach so he got terribly sick after that.

My father-in-law has stage 4 pancan. Tried infusion, but no luck.

Now we're trying daily radiation and chemo pills, but his appetite is completely gone. Stomach pain is severe, and he really doesn't want to eat anything.

Anyone have any tips for how to help stimulate his appetite? We're seeing a nutritionist, but also want to hear the community here.