operation ok but fluid back

[jenna1984]

hi, I had my operation (laparotomy) on dec 6th and all went well docs told me they removed 6 pints of fluid from my abdomen which probably what was causing my pain they also untwisted my bowel which i though might have been another reason for my pain, after the op i felt much better my stomach was flat and i looked like id lost alot of weight. The problem is now i think alot of fluid has come back my stomach is distended again and quite painful to the touch it looks like ive got a lot of fluid in there again this worries me as i thought the op would clear my prob up for longer than a few wks is this normal? also my pain has not gone away as expected the pressure on my bladder is still there and im still in a lot of pain not just from the op does anyone have any advice or reasons why the pain could still be about? any help at all would be appreciated thanx

[jenna1984]

i think that despite all that, the fact that your still young is probably a good sign! Its weird with the pain being around the smaller cyst much the same with me being that my cyst was the painful thing not the ovary with tumour. how long have you been waiting for surgery? speaking as someone who has gone through a similar thing as you are now i can say honestly the waiting is the worst im sure your desperate to just know one way or the other.. as for your op im sure their performing a laparotomy?! If your like me at all i guess you must be scared but my only word of wisdom on this would be to stay strong nothing is certain till you get those path results right so have faith and even if the worst happens removing ovary, uterus etc could well solve the prob. keep me posted i'll be praying for you.

[xrayu2]

I am having a laparotomy w/possible abdominal wash.  And you are correct on everything else that you wrote.  I too will pray for you.

[chelan2]

Hi again Jenna, the John Hopkins ovarian cancer site has some info on borderline ovca.  Have you seen a gyn onc?  It is unusual for LMP borderline ovca to spread but I have heard of others who have had LMP spread to other areas.  For LMP even if it's spread it's still ok as LMP rarely becomes a problem and is only treated by surgery.  Were you staged at all?  If you haven't seen a gyn onc I strongly suggest you see one - especially if you're still having problems - that fluid build up sounds uncomfortable.  Second opinions can be life savers.
Take care.

[xrayu2]

what did they find as far as pathology?

[jenna1984]

hi, i haven't got my results for that yet ive got to go back on the 21st to find out..although ive had this op before and the results from pathology then were that i was initially diagnosed with borderline ovarian cancer. the reason for this op was mainly to remove the fluid im just worried that i went through all that only for the fluid to return so quickly making that op pointless but not sure if its normal for fluid to return quite so quickly after surgery?

[chelan2]

Borderline ovca can be tricky to diagonose.  My dr recommended that my slides be sent to a pathologist who specialized in gyn cancers.  Also, there are two types of borderline ovca.  One is LMP which is the good kind (if any) to have as it usually doesn't return and the other is MicroPapillary which is more agressive.  Make sure you know which you have and I highly recommend the second opinion of the pathology.
Good Luck

[jenna1984]

hi, Thanx for your comment i never even knew there were different types of borderline ovca i'll def ask my doctor its just hard there seems to be little to no info on borderline disease mine had apparently spread to other organs ie my liver but not a large amount does this mean its more likely to be the aggresive kind? sorry for the many questions its just nice to hear from someone whos actually heard of borderline disease before. :-)

[xrayu2]

That is scary to think you are accumulating fluid so quickly.  If you do not mind me asking how did you first find your borderline ovca and at what age?

[jenna1984]

hi, no of course i don't mind you asking im only 21 now i was diagnosed in june of this year when i was 20 i initially thought i had just a cyst which was rather large as nothing else appeared abnormal from my ultrasounds and MRI's however when i had a laparotomy in may they discovered that aswell as a cyst on my left ovary my right ovary was covered in tumour i also had traces of tumour on my liver, bowel and douglas pouch they took bio's and after being looked at by several pathologists the general opinion was that i had borderline disease stage 3c although as you probably know staging is different for this disease than normal ovarian cancer, the doctors said that they were not going to perform a hysterectomy because of my age but just watch the tumour which is what they did till recently when it was obvious i was retaining fluid so hence the second laparotomy. sorry just read back what i wrote it seems like my life history :-)

[xrayu2]

No need for apology.  I do not have surgery until Jan and I am a little concerned at what will be found.  I thought perhaps you were only 21 by your user name but I wanted to make sure. At what point will they decide hysterectomy is the only option?

[jenna1984]

hi, waiting for surgery is always the worst thing of all if you don't mind me asking what are you having surgery for? I think the next op will be to remove the right ovary with the main bulk of tumour at which point if a lot of my problems ie pain etc are solved then no further surgery will be needed however if problems still persist then a hysterectomy will become a very likely option however i don't wanna go down that route unless necessary i am only young after all and did want the option of having children. Good luck with your surgery im sure all will be fine.

[xrayu2]

I have bilateral complex ovarian cysts.  The left has a 1cm solid mass with papillary projections.  The right is filled with debris and the cyst measures 7.7cm, the left measures only 5.5 cm.  The crazy thing is my pain all along has been on the left and it is the smallest but has that nice mass in it that the docs say could represent malignancy.  I am 31 and I have three children-I had a tubal ligation after the third.  The gyn/onc is going to take my left ovary, tube and uterus and try to resect my right.