I am now a little over one year out from my reversal. I tried to follow the MD Anderson protocol, but I found that the fiber caused too much gas and that I still had diarrhea etc. I saw a nutritionist and she recommended that I have steel cut oats every AM and that I take a digestive supplement call...

The major concern after this sort of surgery is an anastomtic leak. Your husband did have the CAT scan, which ruled it out the week before. The surgeon clearly still had some concerns about the anastomosis or he would not have performed the procedure so close to surgery. I have had several flex sigs...

I was in the hospital for a total of 3 days - much earlier than my surgeon expected! I figured I deserved it since I wound up being in for 10 days after the LAR :( One thing that I consciously did was to take as little pain med as I could tolerate (I actually only needed it the evening after the sur...

I had this type of pain after I had laparasopic removal of my gallbladder. I was told that it is due to vagal nerve stimulation by the residual intraabdominal gas. Stimulation of this nerve can cause sharp, severe right shoulder and neck pain. Your friend is correct - this type of pain is called 're...

Brocken,

Thanks for the gatorade advice! I've never tasted it - the mere look of it has been enough to put me off. If you say 'blue', I'll go 'blue'!

Thanks,
sg101

They tell people to chill it in the fridge, but I find it tough to drink things (especially noxious ones) when they are cold. I simply left mine at room temp and chugged it down as quickly as I could without inducing a gag reflex. Brocken: I am scheduled to receive miralax and gatorage as well when ...

I have not had C. diff myself either, but I do know a bit about it. I would not jump to a stool transplant unless you find that you fail conventional therapy. Many people who get C. diff do resolve (especially if they are not on longterm antibiotics). I hope things get better for you soon!

Glad to hear that you are heading back home. It sounds like you have a reasonable plan in place. Hope you have a good drive home!

Same here, Beth. I finished up FOLFOX 18 months ago and I am still sensitive to cold. Not just the hands/feet thing (which is terrible and it isn't even considered to be cold here in Mass yet!), but just total body cold. It was the worst during the winter I actually got my chemo (actually that was f...

Sorry to hear about the tough surgery (ouch!), but good news that they are still fighting to keep the beast at bay, BB! They certainly wouldn't go this radical if they didn't think there was a chance. Go BB!!!

I agree with Bev that I would definitely plan to call the oncologist sooner than later. The neck swelling may or may not be related to the anemia. Causes of the swelling could be a lymph node, a blood clot (does he have a port, and if so, which side is it located on?), or from iflammation or infecti...

Hi Laura, Like you, I had a complete response. In fact, there was only scar tissue at the site of the resected primary - not even hyperplasia, with 19 nodes negative. My oncologist recommended 5-FU alone, but after a second opinion and literature review, I opted for FOLFOX. Although 5-FU is given al...

Bev- I am with Gaelen - toss everything you know about CRC as it is irrelevant when it comes to hematologic malignancies. Everything whizzes by at a much more rapid pace, and I can only imagine how overwhelmed you must feel right now. It sounds like the doctors are doing everything that they can rig...

Bev, I am SO sorry to hear of this! As others have said, this is certainly not your fault. If you feel that you need to be there for him, then be there for him, but if the abuse continues then I would highly advise an exit strategy. I do think that counseling is a good idea. It obviously won't chang...

My neuropathy seems to wax and wane as well. Until recently, my hands were pretty good (slight numbness at fingertips but good fine motor skills). Now I am back to tingling fingers and dropping things again :( My feet have always been the major issue, with mostly numbness and some balance issues. Th...