My uncle has had mouth and tongue cancer and has had the operation to remove the cancer, which was a success. This was approximately 4 years ago. However, since the surgery he has had tremendous difficulty eating anything and presently should be drinking "build up drinks" as i know them. He has lost an enormous amount of weight (which i can understand would be normal when you are getting back to eating food when you have had such a major operation). He has never ate normal food since his operation. He has lived on the build up drinks ever since the op.

Over the past few weeks he has been having a mouthful, if any, of the drinks a day and says that he cannot possibly drink any more of the drink because he feels too full. He is like a skeleton, and can hardly walk he is so weak.

He is buying food, cooking it and letting it go off because he cannot eat it and we see this as an attempt to eat but then he realises he cannot eat the food.

I hope you understand what I am trying to explain. We feel that he now has a phobia of food and I believe that this is an eating disorder. He has a nutiritionist and now even a psychologist but no one seems to be able to help and he is wasting away before our eyes.

We are at our wits end and do not know what to do. Has anyone else suffered from these type of problems and can anyone help us please? We are desparate.

Many thanks,

Laura xxx

My husband showed signs of an eating disorder as soon as he got the news. during treatment he had a real fear of asphyxiation.
so if he felt full he was scared he would choke. Ther were even timea post treatment he thought the liquid food from the pump (he was on a feeding tube) was giving him a heart attack. I guessed because he was so week his heart raced digesting the food. Most importantly he was depressed. Finally he was given lexepro and did better. two years this October since his feeding tube out and he still forgets to eat.

I agree about the possibility of a kinda phobia . I would streatch to say some type of anerexia though I am not a professional, it is my hunch. I wish Doctors would look into that. One of our doctors said it can happen because cancer patients are weighed so much. Also My husband was embarressed about how hard it was and how long it took to eat. It was just easier not to. In your case four years is tough. I will pray for him and you.

i hope our story helps. I would talk to a professional mental health worker

Ruth