Fun in Europe, Not so much fun afterward...

daBeachBum

Hey gang!

The family and I had a wonderful time in Europe. We saw a lot of great things, ate a lot of great food, drank a lot of great wine and had a lot of great conversations. I felt pretty good and did a ton of walking. I took some naps and skipped a long day of walking in Versailles and what I though would be a long day of baking in the brutal sun at the Papal Audience (it turned out they moved it to a church in the Vatican gardens DOH!), but otherwise kept up with everyone. It was really a special trip :-)

I got home about ten days ago and got chemo the next day, since I was already almost two weeks ot of cycle. I started dragging hard right after that and the last week was the worst I have had since I was in the hospital over the winter. I stayed with my girlfriend for a few days, but was barely able to get out of bed and was throwing up a lot. We missed two Phillies games I had tickets for. I grabbed the dog from my sister's place headed back home. Over this weekend, I thought I was going to need to hit the hospital for saline, I couldn't even keep water down and was in a lot of pain. I slept like a baby - meaning I woke up every two hours to spit up and cry :-p

I feel much better today and was able to start to eat yesterday and get down a couple of quarts of Gatorade. I'm hoping this was all due to overexertion, heat and rich food from the trip, but my gut tells me that its probably more serious than that. My onc has moved up my next scans to a couple of weeks from now.

I'm really glad I made the trip and got to spend such great times with my siblings!

Ray

julesio

Hey, good to see you had a
Hey, good to see you had a nice time. If you continue to be sick you should go to the ER, my partner is in hospital again just now with a bowel obstruction and your symptoms sound very similar, he would eat or drink, then within a day or 2 be vomiting and with intermittent colicky pain, he was getting very dehydrated also with the vomiting. It's best to get it seen to as soon as possible as leaving it too long can cause a back up and more pain etc and maybe emergency surgery which you really don't want, that's if that's what it is! I don't want to alarm you or anything but just to say to get it checked out, it sounds exactly the same thing and my partner has the same condition as you. If you go to the hospital they can give you an xray and tell you then if that's what it is and it's no harm done if it isn't. You shouldn't wait weeks for another scan. Best to be safe. Take care.

daBeachBum

julesio said:

Hey, good to see you had a
Hey, good to see you had a nice time. If you continue to be sick you should go to the ER, my partner is in hospital again just now with a bowel obstruction and your symptoms sound very similar, he would eat or drink, then within a day or 2 be vomiting and with intermittent colicky pain, he was getting very dehydrated also with the vomiting. It's best to get it seen to as soon as possible as leaving it too long can cause a back up and more pain etc and maybe emergency surgery which you really don't want, that's if that's what it is! I don't want to alarm you or anything but just to say to get it checked out, it sounds exactly the same thing and my partner has the same condition as you. If you go to the hospital they can give you an xray and tell you then if that's what it is and it's no harm done if it isn't. You shouldn't wait weeks for another scan. Best to be safe. Take care.

Julie,
I am very sorry to
Julie,

I am very sorry to hear that your partner is in the hospital. Bowel obstructions suck. When I was first diagnosed, a large tumor outside my colon wall constricted it severely and caused me a lot of pain, vomiting, loss of appetitie and wild ascites. I wasn't a candidate for surgery, so they ended up putting in a colon stent to open up the blockage and it has served me well since. I hope that they find something soon for your partner that will clear the obstruction.

Thank you for expressing your concern. I too have the same worry. The last week has seemed a little like when I first got sick. I have let my onc know how things have been and have been been monitoring my bowel movements and liquid intake carefully. I have been crappin' just fine, but since I vomited up a lot of bile, an obstruction is a very real possibility. I feel great today and I see my onc again next week and then get chemo. I get scanned the week after. My nephew who has been living with me is a nurse, so I get checked on daily in some way.

I send your partner and you healing thoughts!

Ray

julesio

daBeachBum said:

Julie,
I am very sorry to
Julie,

I am very sorry to hear that your partner is in the hospital. Bowel obstructions suck. When I was first diagnosed, a large tumor outside my colon wall constricted it severely and caused me a lot of pain, vomiting, loss of appetitie and wild ascites. I wasn't a candidate for surgery, so they ended up putting in a colon stent to open up the blockage and it has served me well since. I hope that they find something soon for your partner that will clear the obstruction.

Thank you for expressing your concern. I too have the same worry. The last week has seemed a little like when I first got sick. I have let my onc know how things have been and have been been monitoring my bowel movements and liquid intake carefully. I have been crappin' just fine, but since I vomited up a lot of bile, an obstruction is a very real possibility. I feel great today and I see my onc again next week and then get chemo. I get scanned the week after. My nephew who has been living with me is a nurse, so I get checked on daily in some way.

I send your partner and you healing thoughts!

Ray

Thanks Ray, that's good you
Thanks Ray, that's good you are being monitored. I think the obstructions can come from the peritoneal stuff too and adhesions though so it may not be the tumors with you, if that is what it is... Just watch it though. My partner was still going to the loo fine so I guess it was a partial blockage, they've told him it's not any tumors causing the blockage, they think it's adhesions with him. Always best to get it checked out before it becomes total though I guess, that's what he did this time so it wasn't too bad. He's just resting up now in hospital and they're hoping taking the pressure off and giving fluids it will resolve itself. I just wouldn't like to see someone else waiting too long to go to hospital with it! I know my partner was sick for a week this time on and off and with pains, still eating and going to the loo but I thought it was too suspect to leave and we took him on Saturday night to the ER to get it checked and they said it was a blockage :-/ It's a pain in the **** setback but hopefully he will be back eating and stuff again soon.

wanttogetwellsoon

daBeachBum said:

Julie,
I am very sorry to
Julie,

I am very sorry to hear that your partner is in the hospital. Bowel obstructions suck. When I was first diagnosed, a large tumor outside my colon wall constricted it severely and caused me a lot of pain, vomiting, loss of appetitie and wild ascites. I wasn't a candidate for surgery, so they ended up putting in a colon stent to open up the blockage and it has served me well since. I hope that they find something soon for your partner that will clear the obstruction.

Thank you for expressing your concern. I too have the same worry. The last week has seemed a little like when I first got sick. I have let my onc know how things have been and have been been monitoring my bowel movements and liquid intake carefully. I have been crappin' just fine, but since I vomited up a lot of bile, an obstruction is a very real possibility. I feel great today and I see my onc again next week and then get chemo. I get scanned the week after. My nephew who has been living with me is a nurse, so I get checked on daily in some way.

I send your partner and you healing thoughts!

Ray

difficulties
Sorry you're going through so much Ray. It was nice that you got away to Europe with the family though. Maybe the whole thing has thrown your routine out. I hope your bowel is sorted soon. It's hard not to focus on the negative things I know, but your constitution is quite delicate and things might resolve themselves shortly. I hope so.