My dad was always one of those guys who could eat anything and never gain weight...until he got older and was less active.. Then he began to put on weight and then even more when mom died. I believe he turned to food to take the pain away. For the last eight years, he's had a real love affair with food to the point it was the only thing (besides going to the casino) that made him happy.
Problem was, he was also a lifetime smoker and that, along with being a foodie, have left him with congestive heart failure, COPD and liver desease...three reasons he's not living alone anymore. A few months ago, being up to nearly 225 lbs (he's 5'10 tall) he had a real issue with gout that put him into the hospital, and his sugar levels were high, so they told him in front of my brother that he really should try to lose some weight and start watching his sugar levels closely.
My brother has always been a health nut and he's hated the way dad's been eating so he's taken this opportunity to put my dad on a very strict diet of few carbs, no sweets, no salt, and very small portions. At first that sounded ok to me, but now I'm not so sure. The last couple of times I've talked with him he just says how awful life is now that he's not allowed to eat. One of the problems is his dentures hurt him so he won't wear them and everything soft is "bad" for him. So he really is always hungry.
My sister in law, who is the main caregiver, confirmed that he's totally miserable and that when she tries to talk to my brother about it, but he refuses to listen, that he doesn't want to see dad die in pain like he was with the gout, not on his watch anyway.
So what is the answer here? In a few short month's dad's dropped back down to around 190. The way I see it is he's 87 years old with congestive heart failure and COPD... what more damage could this food do? I wonder if the metal anguish he's feeling by not being able to eat what he's loved all his life isn't worse then the physical problems the food might cause. At least with the physical he can take a pain pill...not much he can do about the misery. I did suggest antidepressants, but my sister in law says the Doctor is worried about how they would mix with some of his meds.
This is breaking my heart for dad, and yet I understand why my brother thinks he should eat healthier. but is that practical at this point in his life?? Anyone have any suggestions? Has this happened to anyone?
Garden Angle, fortunately dad did quit smoking when mom was diagnosed with Lung Cancer 8 years ago...but a lot of the health damage was already well on it's way. I do have Dad's DOPA as well as POA, but since Brother and Sis in Law have physical custody I would never try to pull rank unless something were a dire emergency. The only alternative of Dad living with brother and sis in law would be assisted living or NH and that would kill him even faster I'm afraid. I do believe Sunnygirl is right though, dad is competent and he should be able to decide for himself what he wants to eat. I just need to get my brother to let up on him somehow.
I live a 7 hour drive away, so needless to say, I'm only there a couple times a year. I do try to stay in touch by phone often though. Unfortunately he can't live with us, as my 72 yr old husband and my dad are on opposite ends of the universe when it comes to about anything and we only have a smaller two bedroom home so they would be together all the time with no way to get away from each other. It wouldn't be pretty, believe me.
So he's trapped at my brother's and on a strict diet and miserable. It's just a sad situation, one which I will be walking into in exactly one week and two days...so I came looking for ammunition to be armed with, if you know what I mean.
Getting your father to stop smoking would be the best of all though.
Another alternative if you live close enough is to take your father out for lunch or dinner weekly, if that's possible, so he does have something to look forward to.
I think food takes a higher level of need in terms of satisfaction for older people; sometimes it's all they have left.
But there are healthy diets that aren't deprivation diets. You might try doing some research on them and see how you can supplement your father's diet, or make suggestions to your brother for foods that are in fact healthy but not laden with sugar or other undesirable foods.
BTW, stevia is a sugar substitute. It's used by gardeners and people who don't want to eat refined sugar.
Prevention magazine used to be good for providing nutritious alternative foods that aren't laden with sugar, preservatives and other junk.
You might also (if you have HIPAA authority) talk to his doctor(s), and/or ask them for a nutritional consult with someone who is in fact familiar with alternative diets.
"Has this happened to anyone?"
Yes. A special diet was recommended for my husband. In his case it wasn't for weight control, it was about swallowing issues. He tried it faithfully for a month, and became more and more depressed. Finally he said to me, "I am really sorry, but I just can't do this. I'd rather take my chances on choking or dying from aspiration pneumonia than to live like this." And we dropped the diet.
(BTW, both his PCP geriatrician and the behavioral neurologist who treated his dementia supported his decision to ditch the diet.)
It would be good for Dad to lose some weight. He lost the weight. There are ways of maintaining that loss or minimizing what he might regain without being on a depression-causing strict diet with lots of limitations.
As a foodie myself, I think what your brother is doing is cruel and unnecessary. And it probably is NOT what the medical staff had in mind when they advised "lose some weight."