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Recently, my neurologist expressed some puzzlement about some of the complaints that I was reporting to her. She suggested that I see my internist for a general physical examination. He found a cancer on my colon. Whether that was the cause of the non-Parkinsonian complaints is still not clear. The surgeon who operated is certain that they removed all of the malignancy. There has been no suggestion that I should have radiation treatments or chemotherapy. Here's hoping that he is right. There was a complication; about a week after the surgery, they found that the resection was leaking, and they operated again to repair it. Having two major surgeries in nine days is no fun. The second time, they also installed an eliostomy (bag) "to give my colon a rest while it healed". That means that I will have to go back again to have everything fastened together properly. For about two weeks, I took practically nothing by mouth. My digestive system was not operating. I was nourished intravenously. But the anesthesiologist said that they could not give me Sinemet and Parlodel (and Tapazole for hyperthyroidism) intravenously. Their solution was to have me take them orally with a tiny paper cup of water. When this went into my inoperative stomach, I hiccupped, coughed, and retched, and I felt generally miserable, and my incisions hurt. My memory is sketchy, but I think it was after the second surgery, I simply refused to take the pills. Fortunately, I am a mild Parkinsonian, and this didn't bother me too much. The real trouble came when they figured out a way to give it to me whether I liked it or not. I had a tube through my nose down into my stomach, for some other reason, and they decided simply to grind up my Sinemet and mix it with a little water, and pump it down the gastronasal tube into my stomach. I warned them that they shouldn't put me back on the full dosage all at once -- but they did! Then I began to fantacize and hallucinate, and I continually demanded that they call my neurologist, which they didn't! My wife had called my neurologist's office to cancel an appointment, and specifically left a message to the neurologist that I was going into the hospital for surgery -- but that message was not delivered to her personally. It happened that she was in the hospital and saw my name on a list. She demanded to know why her patient was in the hospital. She came to my room, and she negotiated a reduction in my drugs, which put me back on track. My concern is that I will have to go back for another surgery and I would like to avoid all this trouble next time. Is there really no way to feed Sinemet and Parlodel intravenously? Certainly there are other Parkinsonians who need surgery sometimes. Many are in much more need of heavier doses of drugs than I use. From what I have read, I hardly think it would be possible for some to be deprived of their drugs and to undergo surgery. If anyone has any knowledge of how to deal with this problem, I would appreciate knowing about it. * SLMR 2.1a * McLean Virginia USA Tue 12-21-93 11:49 pm * KMail 2.96 - The Idea Link -