Man, has it really been that long since I updated this? Sounds like it is time to give everyone a quick status update.
I have consulted with a local Gastroenterologist to see if we could find out what was causing the diarrhea that I have been experiencing. Carcinoid cancer often causes us noids to have diarrhea due to the influence of the metastases that are in the liver and I have long thought that this is why I spend so much time in the bathroom. Well, increased dosages of sandostatin have not controlled the symptoms so we have started looking for alternate explanations.
My GI doc proposed that I may have small bowel overgrowth of bacteria. Your intestines have immense numbers of bacteria to aid in digestion (bacteria actually outnumber the number of 'human' cells in your body) but most of these bacteria are located in your large intestine. For some folks who have had small bowel surgery, the number of bacteria in your small bowel gets seriously out of whack and lead to dumping into your large intestine and, thus, diarrhea.
So, we started on some antibiotics to kill off all the bacteria in the bowel and then went to regrow the large intestine flora with some probiotics. Just as I finished the antibiotics about 5 weeks ago, I started to get very sick. I had trouble keeping food down and had what appeared to be the symptoms of a small bowel obstruction.
After a couple of weeks of this, missing some work, some skiing including the 2011-2012 ski patrol skills test, I am finally back to 'normal' (minus 10 pounds or so). This means I am back to 'normal' diarrhea but at least I am able to eat normally and have stabilized my weight loss.
Moving forward from this, we still need to find out what is going on since the simple answer was not the solution to the bowel problem. I will be doing a 48hour stool collection (yes, it is as fun as it sounds) and the GI doc will be analyzing the output for volume, fat levels, electrolyte levels and other details to see if we can find the reason for the diarrhea.
I had my twice yearly CT scan about on 3/23 and got mostly the same results on it that I have gotten for some time. Masses in the liver, messentary, and pelvis are continuing to demonstrate their slow growth and the small (3mm) lesion in the lung has been stable for some time. The one new development is that there appears to be a mass around the right ureter that is starting to impinge on flow from the right kidney to the bladder. I have not talked to the Dr. about this but my limited research on the web says that this can be addressed non surgically to some extent by insertion of a stent. If nothing else, it is not an urgent condition at this point.
Other than that, life is good. 10 pounds less will make the Deer Creek Challenge a bit more doable. Ski season has sucked this year with Copper Mountain snowfall about 80 inches behind normal and 40 inches behind the worst I have on record for the last 7 years. After the awesomeness that was last years snowfall, I shouldn't complain but I will anyway.
The Run For Hope is currently scheduled for August 4 and we will be there in force once again with as many people in Team Ron as possible. My wife is also planning a benefit dinner mid summer this year with the proceeds going to fund carcinoid research. I would love to see many of you at one or the other event!
