On 4/12/2008
TNmom3 wrote:
Hey there, I'm an ampullary cancer survivor of 9 months so far. I just completed chemo but was wondering for those of you "further along," have you changed your diet, been given any tips on diet, supplements or anything to try and prolong a reoccurrence? I mean I feel great but don't want to just wait for something to pop up if there's something I can do.
The other question I had was so far I have learned of one ampullary cancer patient that survived 9 years. I keep hearing about percentages but would like to hear some GOOD NEWS about survival. Do you all have any?
Thanks so much for being there to listen!
Mary
Hi Mary,
After my Whipple in 1998 for ampullary cancer I only received rather generalized advice on nutrition. I did not have chemo or radiotherapy. The hospital nutrologist said no artificial beverages, specially cola drinks, fast food etc. I take thiamine (Vit B1) and multivitamins at intervals, try to take exercise when I can and must make more effort in that direction. Mostly I follow a balanced diet and have recently changed to gluten-free bread, etc. which seems to help my digestion. My main problem is bile refluxes. I had bile diversion surgery in 1998, but it doesn't seem to have worked. I had an X-ray in stages with contrast that showed a "bottleneck" in my upper abdomen. Any tips on how to deal with bile refluxes would be welcome. Unfortunately, my stomach takes up to 23 hours to empty, which doesn't help and in spite of medicine (Motilium). My GP is reluctant to operate again (another type of bile diversion with 70% chance of success) because of possible hospital infection.
Annettejb