Constipation advice for Mum with inoperable cancer..?

During the whipple op, surgeon realised that Mum's tumour had spread to liver and was deemed inoperable. After undergoing some plumbing work to bypass the tumour to prevent sickness and jaundice she is now recovering from the op and awaiting chemo to start.

She is on morphine twice a day which is making her really constipated. She is taking laxatives prescribed by the hospital 3 times a day but hasn't been able to go in over a week.

This is causing major discomfort on top of the "normal" pain associated with the op and cancer.

Can anyone suggest a good laxative that will work for her, as everything she has tried has not worked...?

I just want her to be in as little discomfort as possible.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Lotta, I'm sorry to hear about your Mum.

This is a "remedy" for constipation that is supposed to work well - but I have no personal experience of it, I just read about it here last year (I've copied and pasted from the original post:

Here is a copy and paste of the recipe posted on JHH Online Discussion Board. It worked great for my Mom and brought great relief. Don't use it too often though. Once the patient is back on track use plenty of stool softeners.

"We got this 'recipe' from an oncologist, and it does work. 4 ounces of prune juice (or 1/2 cup) 3 tablespoons of milk of magnesia mix it together and heat it not too hot so that you burn the patient (sorry can't remember who you were asking for) throat. Dad says it's ok warm and drink the entire 'drink.' It cleans him out in about 4 hours. It's nicknamed 'The Bomb.' They said for him not to do it more than once a day. Once you get 'cleaned out' continue with the senekot and stool softeners as normal."

I do hope your mum gets some relief.

Jan

Hello,

My mum was in hospital back in may with obstructive jaundice, during which time they found a mass on the pancreas in addition to the gall stones she had been suffering with. She was given the laxative Movicol while in hospital and got it prescribed from her GP when she returned home. She said it was very good but gentle as well so no emergency dashes to the toilet.

Might be worth a try. It comes in sachets as a powder which you mix with water.

Regards

Rach

Hi Lotta

My husband uses an old fashioned remedy which is very effective but gentle: syrup of figs. You can buy this in most chemists and he takes it just before bed and it seems to work overnight but with no 'emergency' visits to the loo. It's a completely natural remedy which is why the pharmacist recommended it to us whilst Ted is having chemotherapy.

Kind regards

Nicki

Hi Lotta,

Hope your mum is ok!

My mum was using glicerine supositories!

At the beggining she eat lots of papaya and dry plums!

Wish all the best for you and your mum,

We can share lots of things as my mum has PC as well

It will be lovely to catch up and help if I can

xx