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Post Whipple Surgery

Mrs B P
  • 1 reply
  • 39 subscribers
  • 142 views

Hello,

I had my whipple surgery in July last year. I am on 25000 Creon & Colesvelam. I am still getting very soft stools 2 or 3 days in a week. I also get urgency to pass my bowels. The Colsevelam has not controlled my soft stools & urgency completely. Is this normal or do I just give it time. I am taking 6 Colesvelam tablets a day. Should I try to take 7 tablets a day or do I need to ask the GP for an extra medication if there is to help with my urgency? Also I am still getting abdominal pain when sitting back, moving forward, turning a very stiff door handle, turning in bed etc. Is this normal after loosing alot of muscle fat from weight loss? Should I still be having this abdominal pain because of loosing my muscle fat? Any advice available would be appreciated. Thank you

  • Hi Mrs B P,

    My name is Gail and I’m one of the cancer information nurses on the Macmillan Support Line.

    It sounds as though you’re going through a difficult time. Although cancer treatments can sometimes have long term side effects, including frequent emptying and stomach pain, your hospital team will want to monitor and try to help manage any symptoms you may be experiencing.

    I’m not sure if you’ve reached out to your cancer team yet but it’s important that they’re informed of any changes to your health as soon as possible.

    They can assess appropriately and arrange tests if needed to determine what is causing your symptoms. Although these could be long term effects, it’s important not to assume this without considering other possible causes.

    If they’re not aware of your symptoms or your symptoms have changed in severity since you last saw them, please reach out to them today.

    There are other types of medication that can help with urgency. Sometimes it might take time to find the right one for you. Your cancer team would be best placed to determine if changes to your medication are needed, and I would encourage you to seek their advice prior to making changes.

    You mentioned abdominal pain. If this is new, worsening, ongoing or changing and has not yet been assessed, please ensure you reach out to your cancer team today.

    If you don’t have details of your clinical nurse specialist, you can contact the hospital switchboard and ask to be put through to your consultant’s secretary. You can ask the secretary if they can arrange a call back today. If this is not possible, you can also contact your GP or NHS 111 for immediate medical advice.

    We can sometimes take a few days to answer questions on this platform and so if you’d like to discuss with us further, you can speak to one of our nurses directly on our support line.

    We’re open 7 days a week 8am-8pm. We don’t have access to your medical records, which means we’re unable to fully assess your symptoms, but we can offer general clinical guidance at times like this so please don’t hesitate to call. Most importantly, please don’t suffer on your own.

    Ref amcg/md

    Take care

    Gail-Macmillan (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)
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