A Place for Mom's Family

Sudden Weight Loss: One of the Key Elder Care Warning Signs You Can’t Ignore

Three years ago when Nicole Wilhelm, a public relations executive in Jacksonville, Florida, was in the throes of wedding planning, she visited her 68-year-old father in Lucerne Valley, California. But something was wrong, says Wilhelm. Her father, a lifelong skier who was normally muscular and fit, now looked frail and weak. “I noticed that he was definitely thinner, but not so much as to cause great concern,” she says. Still something didn’t seem right to Wilhelm, so she asked her father about his weight loss. “He said he had been to his doctor, so I didn’t worry,” she explains. “He was his usual upbeat self.” What Wilhelm didn’t know was that in six months, her father would be fighting for his life. Wilhelm had discovered one of the most important elder care warning signs a caregiver should look out for.

This article continues at Elder Care Warning Signs and Sudden Weight Loss.

 This article brought me to tears. Weight loss is a big concern for me with my mother and it's a challenge at best. I'm still trying to figure out new ways to encourage her to eat "healthy" and enjoy her small portions that personally, I don't see how she is surviving other than by the Grace of God. I do know that her 'biggest' meal is at lunch time so I try really hard to make it a "hot meal' at that particular time of day, since her nightly ritual for supper is a very small bowl of cold cereal. My doctor did recommend using a powdered breakfast drink and mixing it with ice cream, for the caloric intake value as well as the nutrients, to make a 'special treat' of shake for her since she does enjoy a milk shake often. It's a learning process for me and I'm sure it will be since her tastes change with medicines as they are prescribed which also can deplete the appetite.