Bloated, swollen stomach.

[cathysal]

My stomach is very swollen and I'm going for an ultrasound to see what's going on. Just wondered if anyone has had fluid drawn off their stomach without then having to start more chemo. Also how did they drain the fluid off.

[trolleydollyuk]

Hi cathysal

In June last year I had 5 litres of fluid drained from my stomach prior to surgery as I was very uncomfortable. The area was numbed and a needle was inserted while using an ultra sound to get the needle into the right position. I did not feel the needle go into my skin at all, however at one stage it was extremely painful, I think this must have been when the needle was passing through certain muscle. The needle was attached to a tube and a bag, once it was in the right position the needle was removed and the tube was stitched into place and it was left there for 24 hours to drain. Removal was pretty straightforward, didn't feel a thing. I think you can also have fluid drained off with a giant syringe, I found this too uncomfortable and that is why they opted for the drain to be left on. Try not to worry, it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be.

[cathysal]

Hi Trolleydolly

Thanks for that - it doesn't sound too bad and I'll be glad to get it done as it's getting pretty uncomfortable. Because my CA125 has been going up and was at 300 in the last test I wondered if it was inevitable that I'd have to start chemo again now that I've got the fluid problem as well. My last chemo was November 2010 and like all of us, the longer I can go without starting again, the happier I'll be! Just hope it's only fluid and nothing too sinister is going on - I will soon find out.

Cathy xx

[Hidden]

Hi Cathy,

I too have had ascities drained from the abdominal cavity, 8 ltrs (last dec) !! Unfortunately it is a bad sign, and I started chemo straight after christmas last year. The drug they gave me was ineffective and I ended up having a lung drained in June. Changed treatment and i'm glad to say the abdomen is now back to normal and the ca125 is down to 60 after 5 treatments, so hopefully when I get the scan and CA125 after the full 6 I will have some good results this christmas.

the abdominal drain was so easy, I went as an day patient, and they used the utrasound as trolleydolly said to position the drain. I then had to lay flat all day until it finished draining, then went home about 6pm. the lung wasa different story as I went in through A&E as an emergency - spent 5 days in hospital under the medical team as opposed to the oncology team.

Good luck - hope they sort you out quickly.

Viv

[cathysal]

Hi Viv

Thanks for your reply. I thought it might be a bit of a bad sign as when I phoned my oncologist to say I was blowing up she said that after the ultrasound she'd bring my appointment forward so we could discuss my options.

I can't believe you had 8 litres drained off and also Trolleydolly had 5 litres! I don't think I've got anything like that. I just know I'm bloated and I've started burping all the time and my stoma never stops gurgling and f*****g!! (sorry, tmi). I had the same thing before I was diagnosed so I kind of recognise the signs.

Also I'm finding that after eating very little I'm really full.

So I guess that pinning my hopes on the oncologist saying I've been eating too many pies and it's just fat isn't going to work!

Hope I get it sorted out soon as draining the lung sounds pretty nasty. I don't know if you've had the same experience but I'd much rather be under the oncology team than the medical team as oncology have definitely been the Rolls Royce team as regards my treatment.

Cheers, Cathy