I'm a new member. My aunt passed away in June - was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away 5 days later. I joined a really useful discussion forums site which focused specifically on pancreatic cancer. This is one of the most agggressive cancers (Pavarotti died from it) and is rarely talked about, since so few survive, and if they do, its rarely for more than a year after diagnosis and surgery.
About 8 years ago, purely by chance, my uncle, aged 78, had cancer cells detected in his stomach, by mistake, very early on, and they immediately removed his whole stomach. Since that time, he has had various problems with diet, severe weight loss, real problems with his toilet, etc etc. Now he has lost his wife, life has been even more difficult.
As his niece, I try to do all that I can. One of the things that I have noticed is the significant amount of medication he is on. He sees a variety of doctors and consultants at Guys Hospital and his local hospital at Lewisham. He is also having chemo for possible prostate cancer and was featured on a recent morning programme at Guys. It seems to me that he is now on a cocktail of medication and still suffers greatly especially in the bathroom. For example, he tells me that he is taking Lomotil and also Codeine Phosphate. He takes 8 pills of each, per day. He thought the codeine was for pain, and was considering cutting down as he has no pain at the moment.
I've looked both drugs up on the internet and they both seem to be for the same thing..........diarhhoea. It seems that every little change in diet sends him to the bathroom - even a change in his brand of bread. He says he has asked his GP for advice, but the GP is just that.............a General Practioner. Not a specialist. It may be that, given his age, he cannot remember the advices he is given by so many people. He also says he has to take Antenodol, and a drug beginning with "Bel" with a "v" in it!! Bless him, he gets in a state, and because of data protection, I can't really help him...plus, he would see it as interfering. Yet, he asks me for help, and for my opinion! He has aslo asked the MacMillan nurses for advice, but it seems difficult to get consistent answers.
Has anyone got any experience of problems with these types of drugs and health problems post-op, years after the op.
Thanks for reading this!