shade wrote:Last, she suggested something she had no personal experience with - you get a port put in and you use a syringe to flush yourself with warm water every other day. I would have done this, even though it would mean having an appliance installed, but then I started daily enemas, and my LARS has been manageable since.
All this is to say, don't give up hope. Keep trying different things until you find what works for you.
TinaFish wrote:Sorry, you guys - what is LARS? I googled it and didn't come up with anything. I'm new to all of this and just got diagnosed about three months ago. I've only been through four rounds of chemo - nothing else.
Prior to being diagnosed, I was having intermittent blood in my poop. My doctors had told me that it was everything from internal hemorrhoids to diverticulitis. It never occurred to me that it could be cancer! I was waiting for my colonoscopy appointment. The bleeding usually only lasted 2-3 days, but the last time, I was bleeding for at least six days. It became such an annoyance, I just decided to use an enema to flush out all of the blood.
I assume that the enema solution was to blame (it's saline, right?), but after I did the enema, my rectum BURNED! For DAYS! I ended up going to the hospital for an earlier colonoscopy because I was just so tired of all this, and that's when I received my horrific diagnosis. However, thank God I went the hospital when I did, because my colonoscopy wasn't scheduled until October!
So, went to the hospital and had to stay there ten days in order for insurance to approve my first chemo. After that, I went home. Diarrhea, tenesmus, stomach cramps, my whole digestive system is f***** up now, and I can only blame the chemo, because I was fine before going to the hospital.
The reason for my comment is: do you think an enema would help me? Some days, I'm on the toilet 20-30 times a day. It seems that the slightest bit of poop or diarrhea in my rectum triggers tenesmus. Since my last enema, I've been scared to do another one. But maybe it wouldn't hurt if I just used tap water instead of that enema solution?
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