Optimising your symptoms

Nutrition

Pancreatic disease, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy can affect your appetite, and may cause bowel symptoms which can lead to weight loss.  Your tailored nutritional support plan could include advice on suitable food choices, eating patterns or ways to increase the nourishment in your foods and drinks. The service supports patients during their inpatient admission with follow up available in outpatients, either face to face or via the telephone.

A pancreatic dietitian will assess your nutritional needs in relation to your condition and will then work with you to provide guidance on ways to manage any nutritional concerns you have.

If you have a problem with your pancreas, you may need to take pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) with your food to help your body absorb and consume the nutrients in your food.  Finding out how much PERT you require will vary with each patient depending upon the food they consume or how badly the pancreas is affected.  The information below may help you understand this in further detail.

• Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT)

Diabetes

There is a variety of medications that can help keep your blood glucose levels under control.  Blood glucose levels can also vary because of infections, change in diet, lack of appetite or because you have had surgery on your pancreas.  We appreciate there is a lot of information to remember.  Below is a link of some of the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust information leaflets that may help you.

• Managing my diabetes

Pain Management

Pain medication is often started to help you with your pancreas symptoms. After an acute attack we would aim to gradually reduce the pain killers your are taking.  This is assessed regularly and on an individual basis. Your GP would also need to help you to reduce your pain killers.  Reducing pain killers needs careful consideration and planning and should be reduced gradually.  Please seek medical advise to discuss this either in hospital, at your pancreas follow up appointment or with your GP.

• Reducing your pain medication 
• Leeds Palliative Care information: – using strong opioid pain killers 

Toilet Troubles

It is not uncommon for patients to not be able to go for a wee after their surgery.  This can be more common with men.  If this does happen to you the team will inform you of the expected process.

• Can’t wee after surgery and go home with a catheter (TWOC Clinic)