Virtually no pancreas; blood sugar issues

[Devaskyla]

My husband was very sick last year & wound up having his gallbladder & 90% of his pancreas removed. His blood sugar was fine when he left the hospital the 2nd time and they gave us no follow up info, not even to check it. Mostly at my prodding, he's checked it every so often (once a month or less). It was fine until last month, when he had some high numbers that gradually went down over a few days.  He didn't check it again until a few days ago & his numbers were even higher than they had been (and went up even more by the next day). He's been trying to avoid/limit carbs the last couple days (not easy when he has a massive sweet tooth & we don't have much money, so our main staple is carbs). He just checked and his number is back in the high normal range for the first time since Tues.

No one seems to have a clue what might be normal for him, though. The last time this happened, his gp figured that he just processes sugar more slowly than most people due to missing most of his pancreas. Personally, even if "normal" for him, I don't really think it's healthy. He didn't have any symptoms of high blood sugar, but it can't be healthy to have them so high. And who knows how often it's happening & for how long.

He's going to get an appt with his gp on Monday & a referral to an endocrinologist, but it could be months until he actually sees one. In the meantime, are there any natural ways to help support his pancreas? I know we're going to have to, somehow, come up with more meals/snacks which are low carb, but what else?

The other thing is, every couple days he winds up having to spend hours in the bathroom. I don't know if it's related to the lack of gallbladder or the fact that NONE of the doctors we've talked to seems to have the slightest clue about the pancreatic enzymes he needs to digest his food. Everyone says a different amount he should be taking/ a different timing/ different things he does or doesn't need to take them with.

He was fine, even his previous issues with IBS had cleared up, while was a)barely eating & b) on antibiotics. The longer he's been healthy, the worse this issue seems to get. Even foods that never used to bother him are now causing issues. He never seems to know what's going to set him off.

I guess I'm just looking for any ideas people might have on these issues. Thanks if you managed to make it through this post.

[swede]

I have no gallbladder and also Type 1 (Juvenile) diabetes.  The bathroom stuff might be from his gallbladder.  I know if I eat too much fat, it goes right through me.  I don't have much more to offer, except to confirm that it sounds like he needs to see an endo.  I am surprised they wouldn't have recommended that to begin with.  He does need to eat some carbs (we all do), but if you can get him to eat more complex ones, like vegetables and some fruits, that would be better.  Are you in canada?  Why will it take so long to get in to see the endo?  You should ask the GP to call and make an earlier appt for him.

Good luck - I am sorry you are both havign to deal with this :(

[Devaskyla]

Thanks for replying.

Yes, we're in Canada. It just seems like referrals usually take about 3 months. I'm really hoping that it doesn't take anywhere near that long given the situation. He sees the GP on Monday, so I guess we'll maybe get some idea then how long it's actually going to take.

We've been trying to eat more low carb, but it's really tough finding foods he can/will eat (he also has IBS triggered by too much fiber, among other things) & it's so expensive; our food budget was out of control even with lots of carbs.

I know he doesn't want to be on meds for it, but I feel like it might be better if he were. I guess we'll find out whenever he can see someone who has more of an idea than we do.