Father Fading Away

My father, 52 had the Whipple Procedure performed 1 year ago. He had a large portion of his pancreas removed, underwent chemotherapy, and his doctors reported no cancer in lymph nodes.

Before the cancer he also underwent multiple bypass heart surgery and a couple cardiac stent surgeries.

Because of his heart condition he is on many lipid/cholesterol control drugs, and a low fat diet. He didn't display any significant weight changes after all of his heart problems were addressed.

A year after his Whipple Procedure, he has lost a significant amount of weight. He was a fit 180 lb guy before and now he is down to 120 lbs, skin and bones. He takes his prescription enzymes and eats normal portioned meals. He told me he has to go to the bathroom 6 times a day, food seems to run right through him.

Something is wrong, I'm worried that he is becoming malnourished, his energy levels are way down. His doctor tells him that it is common to lose weight and he should just continue doing what he's doing. 

Is the bathroom issue common? Can he take protein supplements? How can I help him put more weight on? 

I take enzymes with meals and snacks.  When they were first prescribed, the doctor had me start on low dosage.  I took one Creon 10 with breakfast and lunch, and two Creon 10 with dinner.  I continued to have the problem you described, just not as bad as before starting taking Creon.  Another of my doctors reviewed the medications and my diet, and suggested I increase the dosage.  I now take at least two Creon 10's with breakfast and lunch, and three with dinner.  I take one Creon 10 with snacks when I have them.  After increasing the enzymes, and getting my blood glucose under control, my weight was stable, I digest food normally and have normal bathroom breaks.  I have learned how many enzymes to take based on what I'm eating.  

Maybe your Father can speak with his doctor about possibly increasing the amount of enzymes taken, or trying a different one to see if it helps.   It can be frustrating because it's mostly trial and error until you find what works for you.

Hope your Father sees some improvement soon. 

Hi,  Your dad needs to increase his enzymes. Six bowel movements a day is not normal. If this continues he will never gain weight. My husband had the whipple Oct 2005.  He takes Creon 10.  He started with 2 with each meal and one with snacks. That dosage was good until 2 months ago, he started to have watery bowel movements so his doctor increased his enzymes. He now takes 4 with each meal and 2 with snacks,so far so good.   If he is not a diabetic have him drink Ensure or Boost,if he is a diabetic he can have a glucerna shake..Please ask his doctor about the enzymes..  Eileen

On 2/1/2008 eagerinsight wrote:

My father, 52 had the Whipple Procedure performed 1 year ago. He had a large portion of his pancreas removed, underwent chemotherapy, and his doctors reported no cancer in lymph nodes.

Before the cancer he also underwent multiple bypass heart surgery and a couple cardiac stent surgeries.

Because of his heart condition he is on many lipid/cholesterol control drugs, and a low fat diet. He didn't display any significant weight changes after all of his heart problems were addressed.

A year after his Whipple Procedure, he has lost a significant amount of weight. He was a fit 180 lb guy before and now he is down to 120 lbs, skin and bones. He takes his prescription enzymes and eats normal portioned meals. He told me he has to go to the bathroom 6 times a day, food seems to run right through him.

Something is wrong, I'm worried that he is becoming malnourished, his energy levels are way down. His doctor tells him that it is common to lose weight and he should just continue doing what he's doing. 

Is the bathroom issue common? Can he take protein supplements? How can I help him put more weight on? 

 

 

A dietician told my husband to take one Creon enzyme when he started to eat, and the second 20 minutes later.  She told him not to bother if he was just eating a piece of fruit or something else that didn't have fat.

Hope this was some help. Good luck.

Bonni

I concur with everyone else that it sounds like he's not taking enough digestive enzyme.  My boyfriend had Whipple surgery in Sept '07, and the way the dietition explained it to me is that Creon 10 relates to the fact that he should take one Creon 10 tablet for each 10 grams of fat in the meal (there is also a Creon 5 and a Creon 20 tablets, etc).  Some of this depends on whether or not he has any pancreas left and thus might be producing some digestive enzyme himself, and that's where the trial and error part comes in.  Most people eat pretty much the same stuff  90% of the time and you just learn how much enzyme you need for what your are eating.  Most of the time 2 enzymes per meal works great for him, but if he's eating something like fried chicken or fried fish, he'll take 3 or 4.  Also things like sausage with eggs fried in butter might require more because of the fat in the meal. 

It is also very important that he take the enzyme at the start of the meal, although I think it is also okay to take a second or more enzymes during the meal and if he eats more than he thought he would, I'd take an extra one along the way.  The thing is there needs to be enzyme ready and waiting for any fat that is coming through the pipeline. 

My boyfriend, age 63, also lost a fit 184 down to about 125 lbs from the time he was diagnosed in April (he had already lost 25lbs by then) while undergoing the chemo, radiation (June & July), and then the surgery on September 7,2007. We were told that he would not start gaining weight back until the wound healed, and they were right.  The body prioritizes where it puts the protein that is used to build tissue.  Brain, heart, lungs first, then it uses the protein to build tissue to fill in the wound.  There were some problems with getting the wound to heal up and I packed an open wound for a month and a half, but once it healed he started putting on weight and has gained 22 pounds since the first of November.  He has leveled off a bit now and is gaining much slower, but it has always been hard for him to gain weight.

I would definitely talk to the doctor about his enzymes, or get a second opinion about this because I find it hard to believe that he should be continuing to lose weight like that.  I'd say, go with your gut feelings, and I think you feel like there is something amiss with this scenario.

Good Luck,

Donna