Mother replies,
"The diarrhea comes and goes. Sometimes it's there for less than a day, sometimes a few days. It's been happening on and off for most of the past year."
Mother replies,
"I'm so worried that I don't know what to do. Taxes are due in a few days, and I'm afraid to let my husband see the final numbers. I don't want him to start drinking again! He has told me that every time he looks at our daughter, he feels like he should have been able to do something to prevent her pregnancy. She's due in a month, and wants to drop out of high school to raise the baby. How can I get her to see what a mistake that would be? The only good news lately is that my mother is recovering nicely from her surgery."
Mother replies,
"No, I don't get nauseated with it. Just bad cramping right before the diarrhea hits."
Mother replies,
"You'd think that I would have lost weight with all the diarrhea. No, I really haven't changed all that much."
Mother replies,
"No! I never drank much, but since my husband has been in treatment, I don't drink at all."
Mother replies,
"That crampy abdominal pain seems to happen all over. It's especially bad on the lower left side of my belly. But I feel it in other parts of my belly as well."
Mother replies,
"No, no travel in nearly a year. We take our vacations in the summer with the kids. Last summer we only went to Canada."
Mother replies,
"Sure, I love milk. I have it every day on my cereal, and try to get another glass in during the day sometime. The calcium is good for me, isn't it?"
Mother replies,
"Not in my immediate family, no. My mother tells me that her sister used to get diarrhea like this years ago, but she got over it. I wish I knew how she did it!"
Mother replies,
"The diarrhea is watery, with bits and pieces of stool and lots of gas. I haven't noticed any blood or black stool."
Mother replies,
"No, I never get a fever with this. It's different than when I get the stomach flu - I get a fever with that!"
Mother replies,
"Well, actually, in college I would get so upset about exams that I would have to run to the bathroom several times during the exam. It got so bad that I was suspected of cheating once! But it hasn't happened since!"
Mother replies,
"Well, this is going to sound silly, but I know colon cancer runs in families - could I have cancer like my mother?"
Mother replies,
"I tried it in high school, but my father died of lung cancer from smoking, so I was scared to do it. Turned out to be a good thing, right?"
Mother replies,
"It's really got worse a few weeks ago. It was so bad that I couldn't be with my mother right before the surgery. Thankfully, she did fine."
Mother replies,
"No, once I am able to fall asleep, I am fine until the morning. About a half hour after getting up in the morning it starts up again if it is going to bother me that day."
Mother replies,
"I take the birth control pill you prescribed every day. I did wonder if that was it, but it seems to come at different times of the cycle, and sometimes there is no diarrhea for an entire month."
Mother replies,
"I sometimes take Kaopectate, and it works, but it tastes so terrible that it's hardly worth it! Pepto Bismol makes me throw up."
Mother replies,
"Funny thing, but the only thing that makes the cramping better temporarily is to go to the bathroom. It seems to settle down for a few minutes before starting up again."
Mother replies,
"Sometimes. I wish my gut would make up it's mind! I'm either stopped up or have the runs. It's really maddening!"