My 82 mother was given 2 months to live 4 months ago when ovarian cancer ( supposedly stage 3) was diagnosed. At that time she had 3.4 litres of ascites fluid drained. She also had just the one session of chemo which made her so terribly ill that she chose not to continue. After recovering from the side affects which included vomiting and chronic constipation she has now had a few months of quality living. We went in 2 weeks ago to have fluid drained as her abdomen was quite distended and were surprised that there was only about 50 millilitres of fluid. The distension we were told was due to gas. She has very loose bowells, a very tender abdomen and pressure which is only releived after going to the toilet. The problem is that she can sit on the toilet for 20 munutes and strain even then to have liquid motions.

How can we get rid of all the gas to give her some comfort? Charcoal tablets have been suggested by a friend also a bowell cleanser from the health food store to really clean her out. She is not taking any medication other than a herbal tea ( supposedly anti - malignancy potion) which we hope is what is stopping the fluid building up. Even if it is doing nothing it is giving her something to take. The problem is the gas/wind. She is still relatively fit and active - gardening / riding her bike etc..... so we have been lucky in that respect.

Can anyone suggest what we can do?