Right now my mom has had a takedown surgery. Meaning they have connected what is left of her small intestine to her rectum. That leaves her with a small route for her food to go through to digest.

The colons main job is to removed water and hold waste till it is socially acceptable to release it. With no colon my mom has almost constant diarrhea and has to release almost as soon as she eats. This leaves her unable to do many things as she has to be very close to a bathroom.

The problem has increased tenfold because she has developed ulcer sores near her anus due to the constant diarrhea. This is a bad situation for two reasons:

• it is unbearably painful for her and
• it could potential cause an infection being exposed to waste constantly

So that means I have to cook, clean etc for her.

Today was so so so because I was able make meals that she ate (her appetite has decreased accordingly because she hates the pain of going), which is a 50/50 struggle. She needs to eat to keep up her strength. She has never really recovered from chemo so its a constant battle.

She ate well today a good three squares, plus two snacks.  But it was very painful today. We tried cholestyramine powder today again per the new gastro surgeons recommendation. Her primary doctor had recommended it but she said it just made it feel grainy over the sore, even more painful. Well the results were the same again. She begged me not to give it to her no more. So I agreed.

So so day.