Mealtimes were always a family affair for the Kochanczyks of Indiana. Dave Kochanczyk loved barbecuing, cooking Polish fare and preparing fresh vegetables from the garden. When not in the kitchen, he led an active life: working as an electrical contractor, serving as a volunteer firefighter and managing the family's large country property. That all changed after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010. Over the next seven years, as he endured intensive treatment, his love of food remained but his appetite dwindled. He lost muscle mass and became gaunt. Weakened and fatigued, he could no longer chop wood for the home's stove. Kochanczyk's struggles were not only the result of the tumour and treatments waging war against one another in his body, but also due to cachexia, a cancer-linked syndrome that causes reduced appetite and muscle wasting. 'It's very hard to watch,' recalls Dave's son Martin Kochanczyk. Since his father's death in 2017, Martin has become an advocate for...
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