(OT)Ins and outs of using pre- and/or probiotics

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I realize that this question is somewhat off-topic in this group, but am throwing it out here anyway, since many of you are such a knowledgeable lot, and I seriously mean that. :-) Please feel free to reply to my email, penas7ar@..., unless you think others here may be interested in the topic and your reply. (You never know,...)

My currently 89-year-old mother had parts of various important organs removed when she was in her 70s and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She has had problems with her digestion ever since, no surprise there, I guess. I tried to talk her into trying a gfcf diet some years ago, but that went nowhere, with her unwillingness to even attempt that. I advised my dad to buy non-fluoridated water in larger containers, and to use that for their drinking water and cooking water. I don't know whether he is still doing that.

Besides having her gall bladder and pancreas removed, my mother also had parts of her liver and stomach removed during the pancreatic cancer surgery. She also has osteoarthritis and such degenerative disc problems with her spine, that she walks like a question mark, always bent over and unable to straighten up (which I think adds to her digestive woes). To add to her problems, she also has macular degeneration problems with her eyesight.

Whenever I see her, and try to suggest the addition of more beneficial foods to her diet, she and my dad are both quick to say that she has trouble digesting various foods and does not even want to try them. The last thing I would want to do is add any more medications or anything like that to her already heavy daily regimen, but I cannot help but wonder whether or not taking prebiotics and/or probiotics (whether as foods or in supplemental form) could help someone at her age and in her condition.

My mother had an appointment with her doctor today, and yesterday I spoke with her and my dad about at least asking the doctor whether he thought she could benefit from taking probiotics. Her previous doctor, who retired recently, never mentioned that option to her. I was feeling a bit stupid yesterday, wondering why that idea had not occurred to me YEARS earlier. It could be perhaps, that I am not familiar with pre- and probiotics, having bought them in the past, but having let them expire on the shelves or in the fridge, without actually using them. Also, I knew that my mom was on several medications, and I did not know how they would react with other supplements.

Anyway, when I talked with my parents tonight, my mom sounded a bit chagrined that they had forgotten to ask her new doctor about the probiotics. She asked me to do a bit of research and she sounded anxious to get some more info before her next doctor's appointment arrives on Sept. 2nd.

If any of you have the time and some knowledge about the use of pre- and probiotics, I'd be more than happy to read what you have time to share. If some of that could be useful to help my mother, I'd be ever grateful. It has been sad watching her basically "fall apart" over the years. When we talk on the phone, her voice is usually as youthful as ever, but when I see her, I know that it takes a lot of effort on her part to keep her body going.

I hate to say this, but in some ways, my mom could have been a "poster-person" for the Pharma industry. She has had more surgeries, ailments, and medications than any other person I know of, and she is still alive. She is still alive, but in many ways, she is only a shell of her former self.

When I was younger, my mom and I rarely agreed about certain things, but I always marvelled about her ability to get some ailment, and then be well again a short time later.

Now, as she is aging, "getting well again", may not be so easy. Yet, she still looks forward to our visits, and I sometimes have to remind myself not to get into any big arguments about the American radio shows, that strangely seem to keep her going.

This is a bit weird, but my mother seems to be thriving on the Republican (dare I call it "drivel"?) that she listens to on the radio beside her bed in Toronto. Go figure, but if she enjoys it, I'm all for it, even though I would not listen to that stuff myself,

Aasa