ABSTRACT
This chapter provides guidelines for the non-professional carer and is intended to offer practical advice and ideas. Patients might not wish to drink for a variety of reasons. These include weakness, loss of interest in food and fluids, altered taste and simply the fact that drinking more means extra trips to the bathroom, which are exhausting. Altered taste can make eating and drinking most unpalatable. It is worth trying the isotonic ‘sports’ drinks too, as these are sometimes better tolerated than water or diluted fruit juice drinks. Many patients develop an aversion to tea and coffee after chemotherapy. Patients who have a dry mouth are especially prone to thrush infection, which shows up as red areas, possibly with white patches, and is painful. Commodes take up space, can compromise privacy and are hard to disguise, so they can draw attention to the fact that the patient is getting weaker.
