My 79 year old mum has been battling stage 4 ovarian cancer since July . Chemotherapy was awful for her and did no good.
She been on Tamoxifen since early December. Her stomach is Very swollen and affected her breathing and has no appetite.
Consultant has recommended a drain and we waiting for appointment, hopefully next week .
Any advice or excellent with this ? It looks and sounds quiet harsh for a weak ish person.
I’m struggling to get my head around all this to be honest. Mum doesn’t complain, but you can see how she is now getting frail . We live 5 mins away and stayed 10 weeks whilst she had her chemotherapy.
Small unit of the 3 of us !!
Such brave stories on this and Macmillan site.
Best wishes to all and any advice or help would be grateful.
Thanks
Paul Sasha and Yvonne ( mum )!
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PaulAllen007
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Chemotherapy worked for me, but before it did, I had to have 2 Ascites drains.
These drains were not painful or difficult as I thought they might be.
The worst part was that it takes about 6 hours to drain successfully.
But, I really needed a drain for the Pleural effusion , which is this same fluid, but is in the chest cavity, crushing my lungs and esophagas, which was the main culprit in my total loss if appetite, breathlessness and inability to eat or drink.
I was lucky though, because during my second round of Carbo/Taxol, the Pleural Effusion and the Adsities suddenly disappeared!
I could eat and drink again!
I wish you could find a Chemotherapy that would destroy your mom’s cancer.
Chemo is hard going, but when it works, you can begin to eat and drink lots of water to revitalise yourself.
Oh, one more thing;
I was very VERY poorly, like your mother sounds to be and was given the opportunity to be admitted to hospital, which I was.
I spent 7 days there on IV fluids with vitamins and minerals added, plus a blood transfusion.
I recommend this path for your mother.
Call the Chemo Emergency Line and insist that your mother is too weak to remain at home. That she cannot eat or drink and needs to be stabilised in hospital.
Thanks again . I’ve contacted the oncology nurse and asked for this to be prioritised as you suggested. They are very good at Peterborough so hoping they will get this sorted early next week .
Welcome to our forum. Sorry you have to be here, but you’re in good company.
Do you know if the plan is for it to be a permanent drain for your mum, or just a temporary one? I have had *lots* of temporary ones done in the past few months. In my experience, they aren’t fun when they are being inserted, but it’s more uncomfortable as the needle goes in, rather than pain. The person doing it will use lots of local anaesthetic and try to make sure all the skin and tissue layers are nice and numb before proceeding.
Once the drain is in place, there’s a section of tubing inside the abdomen which is curled like a pigtail so that it can’t fall out easily (but is very easy to remove when the time comes). The outer part is secured in place and the tube is connected to a catheter bag. The fluid drains over a number of hours, during which she’ll be closely monitored (and the nurses will make sure it’s not draining too quickly, so may clamp it off at certain points), and she’ll probably feel some relief almost immediately. In my last drain, a litre drained within 20mins and I could feel the difference.
I know permanent drains are a bit different, but I don’t have any experience of them. They stay in place, and a district nursing or similar can come out and drain off some fluid as and when required.
I hope your mum feels better once the drain has been done.
Hi there! Yes I had a drain before chemo..it was fine although having it put in was a bit freaky as you are awake throughout! The relief was amazing and well worth having the procedure. I would urge your Mum to have it done because if it allows her to eat and drink she will feel so much stronger xx
Hello. I strongly identify with ascitic drain relief. I had ascities twice with serous stage 4 advanced ovarian cancer and suffered ascities twice. I know how ill I felt and the powerful relief once the drain was in. All the very best to you - Jayne x
Hi Paul , I am a bit younger than your mum but I was very scared about the drain .I stayed at my hospital while I had it done .They gave a local injection to access the area for the drain and the insertion didn’t hurt at all. They took 10 litres from me over 12 hours and it was stopped every two hours to make sure my blood pressure wasn’t dropping too much .I didn’t feel anything when it was removed either but I felt so much better even after the first two litres were gone .I actually managed to walk to the bathroom unaided at that point as I had entered hospital in a wheelchair .I hope your Mum doesn’t have any problems with it as I am sure it will make her more comfortable . Julia
I was very weak with cancer and chronic fatigue but I had several drains and began to feel better soon after they were put in and fluid drained off. They are nothing to worry about. They monitor your blood pressure while they do it to check you are OK
I was very weak and drained over a 2 week period, I had 2 blood transfusions, de baulking and then 6 months Chemo, but before the op I was given a Omaprezole one tab a day and my appetite returned.
It’s worth looking at the advice from the ladies and looking at the right mix for your mum.
I am still ok but lucky to be diagnosed as 1c, but, still only had a couple of weeks to live due to the nature of the cancer,
Is this the pluerx drain? It is very harsh but hopefully gives her relief if ascities can be drained. My biggest advice on this is if she is getting it insist she is knocked out for it!!! My poor mum felt ever tug and was very distressed after plus she could hear the surgeons talking which made her even more anxious. It was ridiculous having a patient awake while putting a drain in your stomach. We were able to use it and did get 1 to 2 litres every second day her stomach was very large god love her. But unfortunately didn't give her any relief. See what docs say but take my advice on above. Hope all goes well x
Many thanks again for the advice. She stayed in hospital overnight and having Assessment this morning. I’m heading back there shortly. Take on board your advice. Mum in so much discomfort is not nice to see. Don’t want her to suffer either way !!
Best wishes and thanks again for taking time to reply x
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Update on Mum after advice on here re second opinion 
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