coleen
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my mum underwent a whipples operation in july of last year. she had been having pains in her side but did not get it checked out. when she became jaundiced we went to the hospital. initially they thought it was gall stones but we later found it was not. mum had part of her pancrease, duodenum, bile duct, intestines and stomach removed. after the op she had LOADS of tubes coming out of her. She was in the high dependency unit for the first night and then moved back to the ward. she has no memory really of the initial days after the op. she was given a morphine pump to stop any pain which worked a treat.
within the first couple of days she was able to walk a few steps a couple of times a day….with assistance. gradually the tubes were removed making it easier for her to move around.
mum was out of hospital within 2 weeks of the op. analysis of the material removed showed that some cells still remained in the margins and that a 2 or 3 lymph nodes were also affected. we had hoped that they would get it all.
a few weeks later mum started on a combination of gemzar and xeloda. luckily for her she has had hardly any side effects, other than tiredness the day after chemo. she will be finished this course of chemo in april. she was due to do chemo for 6 months but unfortunately missed a few sessions as her blood count was low.
within the first 2 months after the op mum was back in work, although she had reduced the number of days she did. she has lost a couple of stones in weight but she had been overweight before the operation. she is in great spirits and has the most positive outlook on things.
after the initial shock at the news, being irish….. and unable to take anything seriously we pretty much tackled it like we tackle everything….. by always looking on the bright side of things and trying to see a funny side whenever possible. we even had a ‘do not feed the animals’ sign over her bed whenever she was fasting for scans etc. in the hospital.
i hope this info is of some use to you and i hope everything works out well. and although it might seem clichmum has been taking this combination for a almost 2 months now. her last couple of doses have caused her white blood cells to drop so she has only received chemo on alternate weeks. she is going to the hospital again on wed for blood tests before she gets another dose. docs talking about reducing her dosage if it is knocking them down so quickly. aside from this, she has had pretty much no side effects.
peter, you spoke about the effect it may have on her hands and feet…… the funny thing is, mum has had psoriasis for years on both the palms of her hands, her feet and parts of her leg. this has now completely cleared up…… very strange indeed.
anyway, hoping the chemo does what it is supposeed too. although, its hard to tell, as mums cancer never showed up in the first place on any scans.
keep up the fight!
cathyi thought i read somewhere that this can be can be a result of having part of the pancrease removed, hindering its ability to break down fat and that it can be remedied by taking enzimes. but maybe i’m wrong.
i dont think so. she is on iv once a week and tablets daily. told to take a break from both for the week and then back for tests next week and they will hopefully take up where they left off. not aware of them giving her anything else. they seem pretty adamant that she should not be taking supplements or herbal products during the course of her chemo, incase it interferes with it. is this normal?
thankfully she has had no side effects whatsoever so far. she is so positive all the time, although she prefers to stay a little in the dark when it comes to medical info. i suppose ignorance is bliss in her case!docs reckon the pain may have been caused by her lifting or other physical activity. she went for her third round of chemo today but her white blood cells were low so she is taking a week off. mum was advised to stey away from anywhere with lots of people as her immune system is very low at the moment. i am a teacher and i’m kinda worried i might bring something home with me when i visit her. should i keep away until it improves?
so far so good with chemo. mum experiencing no side effects so far. she does have a litlle pain around the area where docs operated. is this normal? is it just as a result of the chemo? will be speaking with docs this week regarding scans etc. many thanks again, cathy
thanks for all the info. will be quizzing doc tomorrow regarding scans and tests. i unfortunately could not go with mum last week for her first chemo so i am not sure regarding her CA19-9 marker. i’ll definitely enquire. i’ll also push for scans, although actual tumor only showed following a combined ultrasound and endoscopy. was wondering on how reliable scans would be on assessing her progress as a result of this.
i’ll keep you posted on what i found out,
many thanks again, cas someone mentioned before….. when things are going good people don’t tend to post on this site. first time i visited it scared the life out of me. all i saw was families going through a huge amount of pain with this illness. i saw little hope for my mum. it is quite rare to see such a happy story here, and reading them always brightens my day. i take comfort in the fact that people all over the world are scoring some victories against this heartbraking illness….. it’s a pity we dont hear more about them!!!!!
so happy for you and your husband marylloyd!!!!!!
here’s to many more success stories!!!!!! keep em coming!!all is not sa bad as it seems…. my mother misheard doc regarding secondary tumours on the margins. although correct with regards to lymph node involvement and postitive margins. she is nearing the end of her first week of chemo and has thankfully suffered no side effects so far. i am assuming they may rear their ugly head as her treatment continues but so far so good.
docs said they will treat her with this combination until christmas, after which they will do a scan and decide on a further course of action. i am just a little concerned that leaving it for such a long time may mean we do not catch any growth in the cells (if it happens). Should i push to have a scan done sooner? it has now been just over 8 weeks since she had a whipples resection. overall, it will be 6 months before they do another scan?
am i worrying about nothing or should i request a scan sooner than that?
thanks again for your help
casked doctor today and they have never heard of them…. have to bring in the packet when it arrives to rule out any potential interference with chemo.
thanks peter, this site is a godsendshe has not started chemo yet, starting tomorrow. one of them will be given over half an hour intra veinously, the other will be tablet form, to be taken daily. unfortunately was not with her when she met with oncologist. have so many questions for him. mum does not really want to know too much about it really. not at the stage where she can discuss it. its only been about 12 weeks since she went to hospital for what she thought was a gallstone. since then she has had the whipples operation and managed to be back on her feet and at home two weeks to the day after her op. hoping her ‘bouncebackability’ stays put for duration of the chemo!
