After debulking surgery

shelfish

My mother just had debulking surgery 12/8. Diagnosed 9/23, stage IV. She has been through 3 rounds of taxol/carbo and responded very well. CA125 went from 648 to 48 by 11/29. The oncologist said surgert well very well. No visable signs of cancer. Took all female organs and omentum. She will have 3 or 4 more rounds of chemo. Surgery has been very hard on her. She is still in hospital. She has an UTI and is having fevers. She is not eating hardly anything and has been nauseous. Doctor isn't too concerned but she is very week. It was a lot harder on her then we thought. She is 70 and otherwise excellent shape. She is very thin so she couldn't afford to loose any weight. I know she will bounce back and we are so happy with the surgery results but just hate seeing her so weak. She handled chemo so well, but this has really been hard on her.

LaundryQueen

Nutritional support
Could you ask for a nutritional consult from a dietician? Your mother would benefit from TPN feedings. She needs protein to heal from surgery. And a lot of elderly people are B12 deficient--some seniors even get a kind of dementia from B12 deficiency. Ask for an actual B12 level. The deficiency doesn't always show up on a CBC (complete blood count).

Wishing the best for both of you.

shelfish

Thanks
Thanks so much for the advice. I will talk to the doctor.

carolenk

shelfish said:

Thanks
Thanks so much for the advice. I will talk to the doctor.

I know about B12 deficiency
I know about B12 deficiency from personal experience--lately, I had been feeling weepy with no motivation--I was telling everyone I was depressed. I thought it was from the chemo. Then I realized I missed my B12 shot last month.

The very next day after I had the B12 shot, I felt dramatically better! Even though I had the chemo on the same day. So I set up a my phone to remind me to never miss that shot again.

There is a medicine that helps appetite & nausea. It's called Marinol. Maybe you could check into that for your mom, too. You have to be sure she drinks SOMETHING. Small amounts work best. Watch out for constipation--it's a side effect of the carboplatin and the anti-nausea meds, too.

Hopefully, this phase will be over & your mom will feel better soon. She will probably be tired for months--it can take a while before she is at her pre-surgery energy level.

shelfish

thanks
Talked to doctor about getting her B12 checked. Thanks for the info. She finally came home yesterday. What a difference a few days makes! She is feeling so much better. Still very tired but she is eating now. Just two days ago she was not eating, very nauseous and sleeping all day. She didn't take a nap yesterday (went to bed pretty early) and had her first meal in a week! Today she said she is a new women.

AnneBehymer

ensure
I have been having problems eating after chemo so my doctor had me start drinking ensure for the protien and calleries. See if the hospital with start giving her three a day. I use it for meals when I am having trouble wanting to eat.

Anne