Missing for a while, but i'm back now

mc1717
mc1717 Member Posts: 21
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I haven't posted or even viewed any other posts for quite a while. Here is an update on what is going on. Had surgery on 12/30/08. Dr remove all but about 1/2 inch of rectum and six inches of decending colon. Dr reconected colon to what was left of the rectum. I now have a temporary ileostomy to allow plenty of time to heal from surgery. I spent 11 days in hospital because my stomach would't "wake up" for a while. Lost 14 pounds while in hospital. Surgeon also removed 14 lymph nodes and NONE came back with cancer, yea! Since ten I have lost 10 more pounds. I could afford to loose the 14 pounds but now family and friends are getting worried because i'm still loosing. They say it really shows in my face.

Started Chemo again on 1/30/09. I have an infusion every Friday of leukovorin and 5FU, this goes for six weeks, then one week off and six more weeks, then another week off and a final six weeks. All should be done by 6/12/09. Only real problem now is being very tired all the time.

Dr said I will have my ileostomy reversed in late July. I am a little worried about how "things" will be down there. I don't want to wear Depends!

Hope all has been good for you guys,

Mickey

Comments

  • tiny one
    tiny one Member Posts: 465 Member
    #2
    glad your back
    I had my resection in Feb of 07. I woke up with a temporary ileostomy. This surgery takes awhile to bounce back from. I was in the hospital for 10 days due to my stoma had to be stretched more. For the first 5 days everything was coming back up. Once he stretched the stoma I could keep food down. I think I lost about 10 pounds during that stay. Don't worry to much about weight, just try to eat a little each day. Protein drinks are good too. I liked the chocolate boost. Chemo will make you fatiqued. Try to be a little active each day. During this time be good to yourself, rest when your tired, eat when you can. Let others help you. I kept a journal during my treatment. I still refer back to it from time to time. I had my reversal done after 10 months. That has been very hard for me, they think because of the radiation I had. My ileostomy spared me from having diarrhea during chemo. God bless. If you have any more questions about the bag or the reversal, I'll be glad to answer questions.
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #3
    welcome back
    I am sorry to hear you are still losing weight, hoping you will find the right combo of calories to stop the loss, then begin the gain. I found ensure, or the generic equivalent, did wonders when added to an existing meal. 350 calories in 6 oz that went down pretty easy. That is how I stopped my weight loss after returning home from my last surgery. I wasn't able to gain until the healing slowed a bit, but at least I was able to stop losing within a day of adding the supplement! I was losing 2 lbs every day up until then.

    I had bad diarrhea issues with the regimen you are on,which caused a lot of tiredness; i see you have an ileostomy, so that probably isn't an issue. Are you on steroids? Perhaps you can ask to have some added to your regimen, it might help. Sandostatin can help as well.

    Please come by and keep us posted on how you are doing.
    mary
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #4
    Welcome back
    I'm glad to hear how you're doing. It's good to have everyone check in once in awhile! I'm delighted that your lymph nodes came back clean. That's fabulous! Hope everything keeps getting better.

    *hugs*

    Gail
  • snommintj
    snommintj Member Posts: 601
    #5
    tootsie1 said:

    Welcome back
    I'm glad to hear how you're doing. It's good to have everyone check in once in awhile! I'm delighted that your lymph nodes came back clean. That's fabulous! Hope everything keeps getting better.

    *hugs*

    Gail

    A tiny warning
    It sounds like you are in a very similar situation to mine. Before they reversed my iliostomy, my surgeon ordered a barium enema to make sure the colon had healed properly. Well, there was some communication error between my surgeon and the radiologist. The doctor gave me the enema, problem was the bulb they used to plug me up was directly on my resection. The Dr kept giving me the enema any way making sure he got great images of stuff he didn't need images of. My colon hadn't been used in months, and enema isn't the best way to break the ice, not to mention the bulb pressing on the scar tissue was the most unpleasant experience during my whole treatment. If your Dr orders an enema, make sure the Dr doing your enema knows the whole story.

    Great news on your surgery.

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