I have been supporting my partner who has 3C high grade serous OC (epithelial). She was diagnosed at the end of August 2020, had debulking surgery and completed first line chemo (8 cycles - 7 with Avastin) in Feb 2021 while continuing on Avastin for 22 cycles. She is currently on her 13th cycle. Periodically she has severe abdominal cramps, she describes it as a twisting type pain all around her belly button area (eg. above, sides of the belly button). Today it has lasted almost the whole day. We just had a PET/CT scan in June and the results were clear, nothing lit up and no masses detected. Our oncologist does not know exactly why she has these pains and assumes it can be the intestines working slower than usual after surgery and chemo, so suggested that my partner eat less fibre, chew slower etc... Her surgery though has been almost one year ago and she has finished chemo about 5 months now, so not convinced it is due to that?
I am hoping that someone can shed some light on what it may be? Or perhaps have experienced something like this? Our oncologist doesn't think Avastin would cause these issues, but I have read that some patients have stomach issues with Avastin.
Thanks in advance!
Stephanie
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Stuee01
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I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM BUT GAS CAN GIVE YOU STRANGE PAINS IN AREAS WE WOULD NEVER EXPECT. I CAN ONLY OFFER THIS- ONE DAY I HAD PAINS ALL DAY AROUND THE RIB CAGE. I IMAGINED ALL SORTS OF THINGS AND WE NEVER IMAGINE ANYTHING GOOD, RIGHT? THEN I THOUGHT IF IT MIGHT BE GAS AND LOOKED UP HOME REMEDIES. I TOOK SOME APPLE CIDER VINEGAR IN A GLASS OF WATER AND WITHIN 30MINUTES THE PAINS WERE GONE. A TABLESPOON IN A GLASS OF WATER. I USED A LITTLE MORE THAN THAT. YOU HAVE TO USE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR WITH "THE MOTHER".
BRAGGS MAKES IT AMONG OTHERS AND YOU CAN GET IT ON AMAZON AND SOME STORES CARRY IT. IT'S INEXPENSIVE AND MIGHT BE WORTH A TRY.
THE OTHER THOUGHT I HAD WAS A HERNEA... DID SHE LIFT ANYTHING OR TWIST IN
A FUNNY WAY. COULD IT BE SOMETHING MUSCULAR? THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT HER PET SCAN WAS CLEAR. I HOPE THIS HELPS!!
Thanks so much for your response! It likely isn't something like hernia as there is no bulge in her abdomen area and she has not lifted anything heavy lately. We will try your apple cider vinegar method though and see if it helps! She is willing to try anything at this point. Good thing we happen to have a bottle of Braggs apple cider vinegar. Fingers crossed!
We ended up in emergency as my partner kept vomiting all night and still had really bad stomach cramps till morning. They are giving her an IV drip of anti emetics to see if calms down the nausea. Really not sure what caused this. I was convinced it was a partial blockage but the emergency doc does not think so. Will have to wait and see. Thanks for replying though before!
In very 'lay' terms as I understand Avastin itself may not cause the symptoms but by the way it works it causes the healing process to become a lot longer. Although your partners outside wounds appear healed post op, the internal healing can take much much longer (according to my surgeon!) However on the bowel situation I too was suffering similar pain around the area you mention and found out by accident that my high fibre diet was definitely affecting my general tummy comfort. I had to go on a low/no fibre fir s week before a bowel investigation and was surprised to notice the easing of specifically the 'discomfort ' around my tummy button but also general tenderness in my tummy. I now don't go too heavy on the fibre and also have lowered my laxative intake that I was possibly over using . Unfortunately it's natural for us to think the worse with any pain but hope replies in this forum hope ease your minds. X
Thanks for your reply! It is very helpful. So we were at A&E for a while since her pain and nausea persisted even after the anti pain and anti nausea meds were delivered through IV. She had an X-ray of her abdomen and they found that a small loop of the small bowel was dilated. The doctor said it could be due to adhesion blockage or gastroenteritis or a slow moving gut. We were told we may need to stay overnight for monitoring but after they gave her more anti pain and nausea meds she felt better. We were there for about 5 hours. The doc said that if it was in fact a blockage, even with anti pain meds, my partner would still feel some sort of pain. Since she did not feel anymore pain, then the blockage may have resolved itself...after over 24 hours! It was a looooong night and day, but I am grateful for the outcome. This OC battle seems never ending! So many things to consider. Oh and thanks for the low fiber advice! This may have certainly contributed! My partner was eating lots of healthy nuts, seeds, raw veg, oatmeal etc... all it seems can contribute to bowel blockage Just soupy things for her for the next few days!
Sounds like they were very thorough with their investigation which is is reassuring. As I say I found out by accident that I was probably making a bad situation worse with the high fibre. Very lacking in dietary advice re the bowel post surgery really. Everything so much more finely balanced with this disease. Hope you both feel a little easier now and hopefully you can catch up on much needed sleep.x
I’ve picked up on this late but thought I’d add my bit to Tilly’s comments about fibre - you can have too much! I did too Tilly, better to ‘go the other way’ than be constipated! Much less painful.
I went through similar a couple of years ago but my 2 hospitalisations were due to partial blockages. I was on Avastin and missed the last 2 doses as health professionals feared an imminent bowel perforation.
All was well eventually but I was on a low fibre diet for a while and I still have to take laxatives. I’ve tried Gaviscon and various gas remedies such as described to no effect when the pains come back and usually resort to OxyNorm, which of course can itself cause constipation so laxatives are also needed.
I have a reasonable balance now and that’s what you have to aim for.
I hope your partner is on the road to recovery now, Stephanie 🤞🤞
Thanks for your reply! It definitely helps so much to hear from you ladies who have gone through everything that my partner is going through. She is doing better today and was able to make a bowel movement as well as release gas! Such simple things we feel happy about these days! It's funny how your perspective can change so much.
She doesn't feel hungry much at the moment, but we will definitely follow a low fibre, liquid diet at least for the next few days. I just want to make sure her bowels can rest adequately. I just hope and pray that it doesn't happen again...was painful to watch her suffer so much. I really wish surgeons and doctors would give advice afterwards on what foods are better after abdominal surgery as well as how adhesions can impact you. Crazy they say nothing about it at all!
Happy to hear you have reached a balance now with your diet and we'll target that as well.
Thanks for the well wishes! Lots of luck to you as well!
Just read this…..have you tried mint tea (or peppermint tea). It’s so soothing for the digestive system. Likewise anything with ginger in it. Sorry if this has already been suggested. I haven’t been on here much lately. Mint tea and Ginger tea both really helped me after my surgery.
Sorry, I forgot to ask you a question. After your partial blockages passed, how long did it take before you began to actually feel hungry again? I know it has only been a couple of days since my partner's blockage has passed, as she is no longer in pain. But she is still very gassy with farting but not desire to eat and only drinking small amounts of water/soup. Just curious if it takes a little while before her intestines can function normally again..?
It did take a while, maybe a week for things to get back to some sort of normality. I had to take laxatives until things ‘went the other way’ for a couple of days. The problem with constipation is that you can pass what appears to be diarrhoea but is actually ‘overflow’ - a bit of liquid getting around the blockage which is still there.
Does your partner have any ascities causing the bloating and lack of appetite? I hope that’s been checked.
You and your partner need to keep pushing the healthcare professionals to sort out her pain and discomfort.
Thanks so much for responding. It's good to know it takes a little while for her appetite to improve. She had a PET/CT scan in early June and there was no indication of ascites at that time. Her stomach is not really bloated. I do think it is likely the bowels need some time to recover after such a blockage. She likely still has some excess gas to let out as well. Good thing she seems to be able to now on both sides! haha, TMI
We will probably ask about laxatives too. Fingers crossed she continues to improve.
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It was a looooong night and day, but I am grateful for the outcome. This OC battle seems never ending! So many things to consider. Oh and thanks for the low fiber advice! This may have certainly contributed! My partner was eating lots of healthy nuts, seeds, raw veg, oatmeal etc... all it seems can contribute to bowel blockage 
Just soupy things for her for the next few days!
It's funny how your perspective can change so much.
Stoma? I’d advise you to wear abdominal support garments from the get go. 
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