Late term radiation problem going on with me.

Hate to hear of another problem cropping up in your life. Im having "leakage" problems myself. Its a crappy situation..

David, just a thought here, and it may be completely wrong, but this time of year, with our garden and lots of fresh beans, tomatoes, and other vegetables, it's not surprising to see changes in bowel habits.  All that roughage can have that effect.

I don't know if that applies at all in your case, but I thought I'd pass it along for what it's worth, just in case it might offer an alternative explanation.

I've had the "go often, get there fast" condition since a few months after my RT, and have some of the same effective "restrictions". First thing I do going into a new place is check out the head. If it is substandard, I leave and go somewhere else.

I think it was Dicyclomine(sp?) that the doc prescribed, as he considers it spastic colon. That would make sense, as I had colo-rectal surgery, and I'm told that the scars look like a war zone post RT.

RO said it wasn't RT, family doc, uro, and colo-rectal guy (who did exams before my surgery just to be sure there was a baseline for the future) all say it is a known and often-seen situation for folks with similar history to mine.

They should be able to work out a balance of meds.

David,

Man you just can't seem to catch break, you're just like me. Guessing we're both just "freaks of nature" so to say. I'm really sorry that you're having to deal with this, it's the pits.

I know I suffer with this issue ever since I had 3/4 of my colon removed. My surgeon was going to remove the whole colon and was going to attach my small bowel to the rectum. He said I'd have like 10 BM's daily, but it would be better than having a bag at age 40. Well, I don't go that often, but when I do have to go it's urgent. I know where all the clean toilets are around my home and all the way to the hospital. I too carry TP in the car.

I wish I could offer something to help, I know your worry cause of the pain meds you take, you don't want to end up constipated from taking something. I'm in the same boat that way. I do know that if you maybe drink one glass of fiber every other day, it might help with the urgency feeling.

I'm taking a drug for my pericarditis and it causes the big "D" and most patients can't handle it 3 times a day. I tried and did have have some accidents, very embarrassing even tho it was just my spouse of 29 years. I take only 2 a day and it seems to even out my pain killers.

Wishing you well as always, you know I'm here for you anytime. Promise you'll contact me if things get to tough, I want to be able to support no matter what.

Hugs,
Barbara

Hugs to you Barb, you are such a dear friend. With my Urostomy surgery, they cut about 2' of my ileum to make the conduit for my stoma, and after I first had that surgery in 2010, I had the runs all the time, didn't think I would ever have a solid bowel movement again. It took months.

Now that I have been on heavy amounts of opiates for 3 years, I have been fortunate that I am never constipated. The few times I got concerned, I would take OTC stool softeners from Walmart for a couple of days and I would be ok.

The reason I think I don't get constipated on opiates, is because by nature, I have always ran on the loose side, even before any of my cancer bouts or radiation events. So in some ways, it has actually helped.

Only had one accident (several months ago), was by myself, and it was embarrassing and humiliating as one would expect. I keep a couple of large extra towels in my car too, just in case.

It will hurt my ex-boss feelings, but I am going to tell him, I will visit him twice a week, but I am going to start saying no to his free lunch offers, because this happens almost every single time we go to lunch together. To be honest, even when I was well, I never liked mixing eating and business together, makes for a nervous stomach for me. Plus unless I am eating lunch with him, I never normally ever eat lunch or breakfast.

I promise I will have that Skype back up and running, I just keep putting it off, no offense to you. Would love to see whom I am talking with after all this time.

Bless you, and hope you too, can get any kind of break, no one deserves to go through all that you go through.

David

Purgatory said...
Plus unless I am eating lunch with him, I never normally ever eat lunch or breakfast.

You might want to rethink this. Try three smaller meals per day if you can.

par - good advice normally, I understand the thinking. but I still am having a major loss of appitite problem going on that was looked into last year, no answer were ever found. I saw a good internal doctor, and they never could put their finger on it. most days, I literally have no sense of hunger until around 5-7 pm in the day, and since I prepare dinner for my wife when she gets home, I eat a small supper with her. if I were by myself, I could see entire days going by where I would never eat. my portions even with that one meal are probably half what they would have been a couple of years ago.
my oncologists feels its just another side effect of my body dealing with all the cancer related pain that I deal with.

davidg - the internal doctor I mentioned above ruled out things like ibs, etc, and never could figure out what was going on. If you can hold for 3 hours, you are doing great. todays episode - from the moment I got the first stomach cramp, I was on that nasty toilet in less than 5 minutes - including driving time, finding a store, and begging to use the toilet. any other delay, I would have absolutely have messed myself, the urge is so strong and intense.
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the other catch 22 I have with this problem is frustrating. in my "normal" chronic pain daily, I have moderate to severe back aches anyway - just above my tail bone area. when my back hurts worse, which it will on more "severe" pain days, it upsets my stomach and cramps up. but on the other hand, if I have any build up and need to go to the toilet, it will in turn inflame the back pain worse than normal until I can be relieved. so one problem feeds the other, and its an endless circle. to me, the best solution is to eat even less, as its not worth the pain and anxiety I go through if I need to go. not a great long term solution, but it helps if I don't eat, then I don't have to go.

yes. so far, all the doctors in their various disciplines come back to one thought: extensive radiation damage. least that makes for an easy catch-all dx of my many woes. Like my doc's nurse said jokingly recently, I am chocked full of issues. That's for sure. Got too many to talk about on a regular basis, like my bladder spasms, still have dozens per day, but so far - no answer - no possible solution - just having to accept them as part of my daily life.

david

An,

Being stoic has been a trademark of my personality, even aside from medical woes. It's how I tend to cope with what life throws my way. Better then letting everything get under my skin and into my head, so I just tend to take things in stride.

Yes, sure when we go on this next cruise in 3 weeks, I will have to quickly memorize where all the bathrooms are again onboard. If I remember, they were plentiful and clean.

David

Thank you Viking, but i feel most men here do the same thing as me.

By helping others, it serves two purposes. It takes my mind off my own woes, and it hopefully helps others along the way. Why it might seem like i am giving a lot here, trust me when i say this, i am also taking a lot from here as well. I feel my time here is a fair exchange for what i receive in return.

As far as attitude, we are all different when it comes to that. I am not a worrier, i just take things in stride and make rapid changes to whatever new realities i am facing. Always have been that way. life is too short to sail in the sea of regrets and what could have beens.

Looks like you are still considering your options for treatment. From re-reading your stats, and usually i don't take sides with a person's primary treatment choice (and i am a big believer in "seeds" if one is qualified)< I would be leaning toward surgery in your case, because of the number of positive cores, percentage of cancer, and having at least some Gleason 7 in your biopsy. You should always be treated for the highest shown Gleason as a rule. Just my opinion, the choice is yours alone to make.

David

David, so sorry to hear about this additional problem.  The only things I can think to suggest would be to take some pro-biotics and/or eat a few bites of yogurt with good active cultures in it several time through out the day.  I understand your appetite issues, but I bet you could stomach a few bites of yogurt if it helped. 

Prayers continue.

David- I agree with you about yogurt and Ranch Dressing!  I don't 'do' either one!  You can get probiotics in pill form, over the counter I think.  Our school nurse used to talk about using them.  Check the nutritional supplement area of the drug store or ask your pharmacists.