re swollen abdomen

my mum has been giagnosed with stage 3/4 ovca her abdomen is huge, the doctor says there is hardly any fluid to drain off though so what is it?  In addition to this she has just had her 1st chemo and is suffering terribly with stomach pains/constipation/sickness is this normal and will it get better?

[xrayu2]

You say she has constipation, could she have a bowel obstruction?  It cause the belly to stick out and it gets as hard as a basketball.  It will give nausea and vomiting.  A regular abdomin (abdomen) xray can diagnose.  It will show the bowel gas build.

[milashka]

Constipation will do that to you. The guts slowing down will back up digestive matter as well as gas and enlarge the abdomen...I was diagnosed with IBS-constipation two years before being diagnosed with OvCa. Both have bloat as a symptom. I had surgery 11/23/05 and just recently feel very bloated again. No way for me to tell if it's the guts or if there are new tumors/fluid and it's scaring me.

I assume she had her surgery and the tumors have been removed? How does she deal with the constipation? I am on a daily laxative now, my oncologist says I must have a bowel movement every day. Does she? Does it help with the bloat? Is she swollen all the time or is it worse at night? Intestinal bloat usually gets worse throughout the day...

[milashka]

The pain is probably from both then...since the tumor is still there, that can cause a lot of pressure, pain, swelling. I remember the weeks before my tumor removal...same thing. I also had dizzy spells and sweating. If she does not have a bowel movement despite laxatives, I would stop taking laxatives and stop eating until I talk to a doctor. If the pain is excruciating don't hesitate to go the ER. Best of luck, I feel for you!

[xrayu2]

If she has a large enough tumor, it could be a bowel obstruction or it could just be the tmor pushing her abdomen out.  I would mention this to my doctor and if pain or vomiting would start, I would go to the ER(making sure you give them her history).

[finkaz]

no surgery as of yet debulking is to be done with chemo 1st then POSSIBLY surgery afterwards, she is taking a bucket load of laxatives every day but still struggles.  she isnt sure if pain is from laxatives or tumour

[Angeee]

I had a large cyst 17cm and 5 smaller ones...under 10cm.  They made me have a bowel obstuction in 2 places.  I didn't know what was going on when I got some pains out of this world..kind of pain you call 911...and you know something is wrong. These cysts also collasped my kidney. But if you are having pain really bad, and your stomach is hard, bloated, you call 911 and get to the ER.  This is life threatning.

PS..after I came home from hospitol after 15 day stay...3 weeks later...I get another bowel obstruction. They put the NG tube in and it all passed.  I still worry every day because it hasn't even been 12weeks pre-op yet. Am I gonna get another one? Dr.says it possible.  GRRRREAT!!!