Metastatic breast cancer and nutrition

My question is about whether eating solid foods is necessary.  Here's the situation. My 81 year old mother-in-law has metastatic breast cancer.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991 and has one breast removed. Since then she has developed mets in numerous areas in her bones.  In the last three months she has had three hospitalizations because of pain, fever, and infection.  She was give 10 radiation treatments last month.  Because she lived in Indiana we were not able to closely follow her treatment. This week she came to live with us in Florida. She will have a team of doctors here to continue her care and I believe they will do an excellent job.  Meanwhile, she does not eat.  We think this has been going on for quite some time and is getting worse.  A typical "good" day is one small container of yogurt (4 oz. at the most); two small Ensures, 4 oz of prune juice, 4 oz of other juice, two small cups of coffee, 1/3 of a banana--never any solid food.  She says it makes her sick.  She is having trouble having a bowel movement.  I don't know if it's because she has no solid food to digest or whether it's the pain medications.  She is taking laxitive and stool softeners.  Is is possible to get enough nutrition on this amount of food?  Should she be having solid stools?

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear Investigator2:  It is possible to get adequate nutrition with a liquid diet (though it can be challenging) and a person should still have formed stool (albeit looser than if eating solids).  Pain medication can have a dramatic impact both on appetite and on the bowels.  Also, depending on the location of the radiation, this may impact her ability to eat.  Optimally, you mother may benefit from seeing a palliative medicine specialist who can focus on her symptoms and her quality of life and help her with both with nutrition and elimination.  

[ovaca2005]

Hello.
Your mother -in-law does not eat enough food to produce solid stool. Looking at what you wrote she is starving herself..she needs a balanced diet without red meat but with 2-3 oz fish for omega 3 (sockeye salmon) 3-4 times a week plus fresh vegetables and all kinds of fruits in seazon. She should not take any laxatives because she might not be constipated.....but deficient in a fecal matter. Hope this helps.
Ovaca2005, RN

[boninclyde]

Sorry I can't help with the nutritional info but the doctor here will come along soon hopefully with some good advice. Can she eat any soups tomatoe, chicken noodle?