My 62 year-old father (in good health and shape) had an emergency surgery due to diverticulitis and peritonitis five weeks ago. He had a sponge placed for 1 1/2 weeks when they finally closed the hole and completed colostomy. Two weeks after initial op he had a revision to make the stoma smaller and neater . It took another week for the stoma to start its output. He was discharged two weeks ago (3 weeks post op) and has been doing well. Pain mostly after eating and slowly improving, fairly regular output, energy increasing gradually, but his appetite remains low and varies. He is taking daily walks and drinking lots of water, and he is managing to eat enough to sustain him, but it s not a lot. He says his tastes have changed and he simply doesn t know what he wants. His homecare nurse and the contact at hospital (own doctor on holiday) both repeat that he just needs to eat what he wants, but what can we do to improve his appetite?