iowagirl

Melinda,

I can “hear” the worry in your words. I am also a type II diabetic, so have had some experience with at least one of your questions.

1. Blood sugar lows:
There are two things that could be going on…one sort of okay…and the other not
A. With the lack of interest in food, your husband could have dropped enough weight that it is making a difference in his blood sugar and if he takes any medication or insulin, it could need to be adjusted downward
or
B. In the month before I was diagnosed with a 4-5 cm intrahepatic CC tumor, I was having very good blood sugar numbers….staying well within the lower range of normal. Then one wee before the tumor was found, I had a blood sugar low…..in the very low 40s and it took three hours and a lot of sugar to bring it up to 100. It turns out that is a sign of something brewing in the liver that isn’t good.
So, it could be just lack of eating very much that has reduced his need for as much meds…..or something more serious. It bears checking out.

2. More frequent BMs or Urination:

A. Unless there is something pressing on the bladdar, I can’t imagine what would cause more frequent urination related to CC. If this is a new symptom, then the first thing I’d do is do a urinary tract infection test. You can ask the GP for one in office….or go to a large grocery store, Walmart or similar store to get a home test (usually two to a box) and do the test at home to satisfy your curiousity. You just urniate on the strip and check the strip for color changes against the sample on the box. I’ve done one several times and they’ve been accurate each time, even though my symptoms were fairly mild.
B. As for more frequent BMs….again…..that doesn’t make sense that they are more frequent and is something important to discuss with your doctor. Are they also normal in color and consistency…or did that change also? If so…even more reason to check with your doctor. There are “poo” tests that they can do to check for various bugs that inhabit the gastro-intestinal tract.
Is is very possible that more than one thing may be going on to create the symtpoms you mentioned.

3. Unwillingness to eat…feeling full early:
A. Yes, it is common for those with depression to be uninterested in eating.. They can also eat to excess due to the depression. If he hasn’t been eating very much, he may have shrunken his stomach enough not to be able to handle as much food.
B. Or, something could be pressing on his stomach, causing him to feel full. This could be adhesions from surgery even.
C. Or, a bacterial bug, such as H. Pylori, could be inhabiting his gut, which can make your stomach feel “full”….and can cause some bowel symptoms.
D. Or, did he have chemo (I can’t remember off hand). I have had continuing trouble with my stomach, during and following chemo. I’ve taken the generic of Prilosec during chemo and since, because the chemo still screwed up my stomach even with the Prilosec. I’m trying to wean off of it now….because we tried doubling the dose and the symptoms became worse….which were vague abdominal discomfort and bloating….where I didn’t want to eat or felt that I couldn’t eat much and then ate a full meal anyway. It has been weird.

If this were me, I would try to push up one or both of those appts…..or start by seeing my GP to do whatever testing is needed to rule these out. If his last CT was about a month and a half ago, it’s unlikely that any CC recurrence has grown that fast to be big enough to cause trouble with his stomach, but I also know the anxiety caused by the fear of a recurrence of CC. I would have a very hard time waiting until that scan date. The oncology surgeon may not want to move up the scan….but you could always ask and tell him of these concerns. He may have some other ideas as to what is causing your husband’s problems. I don’t think it’s all in his head though…..depresssion might be responsible for the lack of desire to eat….but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it causing urinary and BM frequency issues.

These are just some things that came to my mind when I read your post. Definitely address these issues with one of his doctors.

Julie T.

Alejandero…..that’s an incredible story….one not heard often enough. I’m just thrilled for you that the chemo your doctors chose woked for you spectacularly well and the surgery was scheduled and sounds like a success Please post back with more of your experiences and progress toward good health.

Julie T.

Spedo,

First things, first: The lung blood clots are being addressed with the Lovonox. Lovonox is a low molecular weight heparin, which is used to thin the blood for deep vein clots (thrombosis). It is given as shots subcutaneously. I doubt that they will change from the Lovonox as it is the preferred anticoagulant for blood clots for people with cancer from what I can gather.

The Lovonox is not a chemo or treatment of the cancer itself. I suspect you know this, but the way your post was worded, I wanted to clear that up.

The cancer: I can’t remember if you mentioned which chemo your husband was taking first.. Is it gemcitibine and cisplatin combo?

I don’t know for sure what your oncologist will want to do next, but if you are not comfortable with things…or he just throws up his hands…or drags his feet, I would highly suggest getting another opinion…or two…or three…from someone at a cancer center that is very knowledgable about bile duct cancer. Some of the really big time CC oncologists will review your husband’s scans, etc without him going there and others will require him to be there in person. Maybe some of the other people on the boards will suggest a few. I see you are in Canada, but not where.

Also, while I don’t have any personal experience with this, I wonder DNA testing has been done of one of the tumors to see if there is any targeted treatement or trials that your husband may qualify for. If he is otherwise in good health, that is on his side for the latter option.

As for your world shattering…..I truly do get that….as I’ve been there as has everyone else here.

But, right now, your world hasn’t ended….but you’ve been given another fork in the road. It doesn’t mean that new route is a bad one….it may be that the first road , which is “usually” the most logical, just wasn’t the best for your husband. This has happened to many others here on the boards and some of those have gone on to remission or even surgery or stable/chronic disease.

Prayers….you will find many of them given freely here….if you ask for them or not. Many time, I quietly say my own prayer for someone after reading a post. I suspect there are many here who do.

For now….hold each other tight…..cry if you must…..and when you are able ……praise God for all you have been given and ask for strength to walk through this together.

Many years ago, one of my grades school teachers wrote this in my autograph book and it was pretty good advice:

“When the troubles of life seem too many,
And you don’t know just where to begin.
Throw back your shoulders and swallow that sob,
And face the old world with a grin.”

I must go for now. but will be checking back on you.

Julie T.

Spedo,

It seems I missed responding to one of your posts…..as you had asked what was done for my leg swelling and shortness of breath. Actually, nothing was done by the oncologist I had at the time….he didn’t even come to my chairside to see what was wrong. He ordered lasix which did nothing for the swelling…..and they sent me home after that first chemo treatment. So, I figured that everybody felt that way during chemo….and I just needed to suck it up. I walked around for a week….trying to gather enough energy and breath to do things, but I could barely walk out to the car from the house without gasping for air. The more I thought about the whole way I was treated by the onc, I got madder and madder…and made an appointment (for Monday) to see my GP to arrange to get a different onc. It was at 8 a.m. on Monday…and she listened to my story for about 5 min….and stopped me….sent me straight to the hospital…as she was sure I had a blood clot. So yes, I walked around for a week with a life threatening clot in my leg that had sprayed my lungs. I just got very lucky that nothing worse happened.

I commend you for being pushy….in a very GOOD way….and demanding (asking nicely, but firmly) that your husband be hospitalized to figure out what was wrong. You may have saved his life. Obviously, the onc wasn’t being very helpful. He needs to explain this more.

Was your husband on the leviquin before getting the blood clot….or did they start the leviquin once they found the clot?

Must go to bed…..will check back tomorrow. Prayers again being sent your way. Deep breaths…..you will get through this….just know you are doing a fantastic job of being an advocate for your husband. Sometimes the medical community doesn’t make it easy.

Julie T.

Spedo…..ah ha…..so that was something separate. I have the same issue. It varies a lot depending on weather systems going through. It seems that just as any bone I’ve broken in the past seems to ache in advance of rain…….the arthritic areas do the same.

When I had those symptoms, minus the back pain, it was because of a blood clot in my leg that partially broke loose and sprayed my lungs. My legs both swelled, even though the clot was just in one leg.. Lasix did no good for this. I had no energy and difficulty with shotness of breath. This may not be your husband’s problem, but I thought I’d throw it out there. Blood clots should be ruled out though.

I see where your husband had back pain apparently just priot to the fluid in his lower extremities…so maybe the two are unrelated.????

Prayers for this to resolve and it’s just a bump in the road.

Julie T.

Alex, My prayers are with you and your family. I’m so sorry. Julie T.