COPING? diarrhea/weakness after ileal-hemicolectomy

[Guest]

Does anyone else have constant diarrhea no matter what they eat?

Has anyone used cholestyramine/Questran regularly, if so, how much, how often? I have 4 gram packages of powder, but it is so gross, it is hard to make myself drink it!

Is there anyway to cope with general food intolerance naturally...without having to take pills (immodium included)?

Stage IIB high risk surgery 12/04
Ileum-29cm removed (20cm of colon removed)
Has anyone experienced malabsorption, vitamin deficiency due to terminal ileum removal?(i.e. B12, fat-soluable vitamins)

Does anyone have constant headaches, weakness, inability to do mostly everything? Do you think it is from diarrhea? CBC's normal, not anemic, B12 at 220...doctors dismiss how I feel...neurologist didn't order any scans, said I was fine.

Plus, there is a hard round lump on my neck (swollen lymph node)...been there for a couple of months now...have serious sinus problems...doctors just say to wait...

Help. What can I do to feel better? Sorry I brought so many issues up at once! Thanks in advance for any advice. It is greatly appreciated.

[sue]

Hi,
I can only speak to the headache problem. I have them all the time and they are worse at night. Mine seem to be related to an elevation in blood pressure. I stopped Avastin on the 10 th treatment because of it.

Earlier in my treatment though, I got deydration headaches. I pretty much
eliminated them by drinking LOTS of water two days before treatment (my naturopath said 1/2 your weight in ounces, so if you weigh 120 for example, drink at least 60 ounce of water every day).

I do remember reading a book called "Everything your Dr. didn't tell you about colon cancer" (or something like that) and there was advice there about what he called "training the colon" after surgery. It said regular fiber therepy and possible taking supplements with active bacteria helps a lot of people. Maybe you can find it on amazon. I can't remember the author. It was Katie Courics husbands Dr. I know fiber for diarreha doesn't seem to make sense but it works for a lot of people. My daughter tried the fiber therepy for ibs and it worked like a charm. No more diarreha and no more constipation. I hope this helps Good Luck staystrong Sue

[Wendy]

The book is: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Colorectal Cancer, New Tests, New Treatments, New Hope - by Mark Bennett Pochapin, M.D.

Wendy

[lisa61]

Does anyone else have constant diarrhea no matter what they eat?

Has anyone used cholestyramine/Questran regularly, if so, how much, how often? I have 4 gram packages of powder, but it is so gross, it is hard to make myself drink it!

Is there anyway to cope with general food intolerance naturally...without having to take pills (immodium included)?

Stage IIB high risk surgery 12/04
Ileum-29cm removed (20cm of colon removed)
Has anyone experienced malabsorption, vitamin deficiency due to terminal ileum removal?(i.e. B12, fat-soluable vitamins)

Does anyone have constant headaches, weakness, inability to do mostly everything? Do you think it is from diarrhea? CBC's normal, not anemic, B12 at 220...doctors dismiss how I feel...neurologist didn't order any scans, said I was fine.

Plus, there is a hard round lump on my neck (swollen lymph node)...been there for a couple of months now...have serious sinus problems...doctors just say to wait...

Help. What can I do to feel better? Sorry I brought so many issues up at once! Thanks in advance for any advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Wendy, I had Stage IIA, removed one-third of my colon and yes I have diarrhea most of the time. I was told to take one Citrucel daily and I do sometimes. I am not a good pill taker. Do you have an ileostomy? My surgery was kind of strange the surgeon said there was a sampling defect so he did not trust the pathology results. I ended up with 6 months of chemo and my gastroenterologist suggested that I might want to have more of my colon removed??

[Guest]

Hi Lisa-Just call me STAR
I'm the one who originally posted. Thanks for responding.

Summary view:

Stage IIB-perforated bowel wall, obstruction, and venous invasion
trouble swallowing pills (specifically multivitamins) since surgery/chemo
chemo-5FU/leucavorin 8 months over since last year
no iliostomy-just diarrhea
tried immodium today to see how it goes
have been meaning to try citrucel...will do
I think you need to find out more about the sampling defect...to see what you need to do! i.e. if it would be best to have more colon removed
when was your original surgery
Thanks...talk to you soon

[Guest]

Thanks Sue and Wendy for your replies. I will try to find that book and drink more and more and more water! Hope the sunshine is bringing you happiness today! STAR