Hi,
I am a 32-year-old female who had a liver resection in January, 2009. They removed sections 4,5,6,7 and 8 and removed my gall bladder. I had a very large benign focal nodular hyperplasia tumor. The mass that was removed was 20cm x 15.5 x 6.8. I've been told repeatedly that my case is extremely unusual, so my doctors don't really have a lot of answers because they've never come across anything like this.
My problem is that my abdomen swells, usually begins right below my incision which starts at the top of my left rib cage, goes up towards the zyphoid process, then along the right rib cage, turning horizontal for the last inch or 2 of the 12-inch incision. I go from having a fairly flat stomach to looking like I'm 5 months pregnant in a short time period. The swelling causes pressure, pain, discomfort, etc. I have noticed this happens after I sit for a while. One doctor said maybe it's diet related, but decreasing the amount of fiber and gas-causing foods has had no effect. She also gave me probiotics to see if that would help. It didn't.
In addition to the abdominal swelling, I still have boughts of fatigue (even when I do sleep), sleeplessness, occasional itching (but my blood tests come back fine). No one I've seen seems to know what to do or think. I figured I'd try this and see if it helps instead of "doctor hopping".
I have also gotten conflicting recommendations on exercise. One doctor has said I can basically only walk, why others say I can do any type of exercise. Big difference. Any thoughts on that? I do have pain when I run or jump, which I've "tested out" a couple of times. I still cannot sit up from lying flat on my back.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jenny