I have a gut feeling. And the feeling is that my guts are a bit messy right now. So I connected with my pal Dr. F. (GI doc and all round smart guy) yesterday and we went for a walk.
My gut feeling for the last couple of months was that my pancreas is angry. Either it’s inflamed or one of the ducts is partially blocked. I have abdominal pain, back pain, distended belly and more.
Another gut feeling was that my internal bleeding was back as a month ago my stools were getting darker and darker. They have since returned to normal.
Then my guts told me the gut pain, increased gas and distended belly might be another one of the increasingly painful side effects of the chemo. So 18 days ago I started a chemo break. So far my skin feels better, I have less headaches, my tongue is no longer sore and some tastes are coming back, my joints and thankfully the heel pain are just beginning to subside. But my guts are still mad and my only relief is an old man fart or a teenage beer drinking burp. Not attractive but certainly gives an indication that there is significant gas build up in my abdomen.
The question is why?
After my Walk with Dr F. and my meeting today with Dr. R and his Oncology intern we have come up with a plan:
Increase creon enzymes to 8 per meal.
Take two more weeks of a break on Cabometyx
Do a stool test to determine efficacy of pancreas
Start on Tuzen (Probiotic therapy helps reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS))
And if those don’t work then I’ll set up an appointment with Dr. M. (another GI doc and equally brilliant) to discuss plans which may include possible need of ERCP Surgery to look at stents and ducts in event the tumours on duodenum aren’t messing with pancreatic or bile ducts.
My gut feeling is that the increased pancreatic enzymes and new probiotics will solve the issue.
And while I trust my gut on this there is a chance that I may need to prepare for another magical mystery tour with inspector gadget travelling in my belly again.
Unless of course anyone else has gut any other solutions?