Colon Resection recovery Problems

[Imaginee]

Hi, My Mom-in-law had a mass removed from her colon, they removed the right part of the colon, all went well. She had the sergery on May 6th and came home a bit early on May 10th, She is 81 and has had cancer for 4 years now.

My concerns are this, since she has been home she has been thowing up off and on, seems whatever she takes in comes out on both ends. She is still on a soft food diet and drinking fluids, but is getting weak, she walks a little and trys to sleep, feels quezy most of the day. I hope soon she will get a brake, she is a very strong women(the strongest i have ever known). I would love to know if there is anything we could do for her...we have talked with her Dr, but I still feel things are not going as well.

I'm not sure what i am asking, but if anyone reading this has any good pointers please post a comment, I will check in here each day.

Thank you
~Linda

[resection]

Well, she is 81, and had cancer, and this is a tough surgery. It takes a while in the best of situations to smooth out after the surgery. She may actually be doing exceptionally well.

Nevertheless, you might look under a different stone. What medications is she on? I would go and have a consultation with as competent a pharmacist as I could find at a major chain. The computer systems at the major chains do a pretty good job of determining drug interactions and also listing off the side affects. Certainly, you should have the packet insert you can read as well as the reference book at your pharmacy. See if nausea and diarrhea are side effects of the medications individually. If nothing seems to be behind it, then see if there is a Pharm-D at your hospital.

The doctor could write additional prescriptions for the other two issues. Between the two, the throwing up is probably worse. There is no opportunity to gain nutrition and it must be very painful on the incision. It hurts to sneeze, I can’t imagine throwing up.

The diarrhea might very well be related to the resection. It takes a while for the body to adjust. Unless your mother is losing weight at an alarming rate and is otherwise getting very weak, the diarrhea may just have to work itself out. Interferring with the healing process may just make it worse. The body has to work out the water absorbtion rates with the new length.

Good luck,

RS

Edit: My point to talking with the pharmacist would be perhaps a suggestion to change up the cocktail. It could be that simple. Losing it from both ends is a problem for sure. There are some quick dissolving anti-throw up drugs that are now available like Zofram. Talk to your pharmacist and then your doctor.

[Imaginee]

RS,

Thank you for your reply, at this time the only meds she is taking is ibuprofen for her lower back pain(cancer related) about once or twice a day. and then the Dr presribed Promethazine (suppository) for the nausea, it seems to work a little, it also causes drowsiness(which is good) but she is weak and I try and get her to walk, but she is so tired. I guess we will have to take it day by day and hope for the best, walking, eatting, fluids and rest....and hope for the best. Thank you again...and if anyone as I said before wants to tell me anything else to help my Mom please do. Thanks you!
~Linda

[resection]

Promethazine is the generic name for Pheregan, which is stronger than Zofram, and has the benefit of drowsiness and minor pain suppression. It is good for the tummy. The obvious problem with a suppository is retention. That is why I suggested the Zofram.

There are Promethazine tablets too if she can hold them down long enough. It should really do good job of prevent the throwing up. There are a couple of threads in play right now from open resection surgeries that you might want to read and follow in the coming days. All three (including you are at about the same stage). Goody2shoes has one and PGTA5 has another.

RS

[resection]

My wife suggested you might want to talk to the phamacist about moving from ibuprofen to tylenol. The ibuprofen can be harsh on the tummy, even cause bleeding. Is she at 1,500 mg or higher per day?

RS