Re: bloated stomach and pain--VERY FRUSTRATED!!
From: Beth (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri Jun 24 09:16:00 2005
Has anyone had the CA125 test done? I only ask because my mom looked 9
months pregnant by the time they diagnosed her with ovarian cancer and
fluid in the cul-de-sac or a distended stomach can come from ascites
(fluid in the abdomen) which is a key sign of advanced ovarian cancer. I
am not saying this to freak anyone out, but it is important to get any
bloated or fluid checked on. The CA125 is the only test that can check
for ovarian cancer in the early stages. It can also help check for
endo, but if you have an elevated count, then you need to be checked for
ovarian cancer.
Hope this helps anyone. I just don't want anyone else to go through
what my mother did. She started out with low back pain and went to the
chiropractor and when that did not help and the pain spread to her
abdomen, she went to her regular doctor. She sent her for all kinds of
testing and the reports all showed cysts (she was postmenapausal and
they told her that this was not normal, but of no concern! They were
actually tumors!)or that they were normal. The OB/GYN they sent her to
asked her what she was doing there and then sent a four page letter to
her family doctor basically calling my mother crazy. Her doctor ordered
a colonoscopy and then told her that if that came back normal then they
would refer her to a pain clinic. On a last chance thing, (her doctor
refused to look at her stomach when it was distended. She was wearing
maternity clothes because her clothes no longer fit) she went to a
specialist in women during and after menapause. She took one look at
her and told her that she had ovarian cancer. She ran the CA125,which
came back extremely high and then did a CAT scan. Within one week she
was in emergency surgery. (Her colonoscopy wasn't scheduled for another
month!) They had to do a complete hysterectomy, bowel resection, lymph
node dissection, and remove the entire fatty layer under the diaphragm
to get rid of the majority of the cancer. She has to undergo chemo for
10 months. She was a stage 4 prior to surgery and after they downgraded
her to a stage 3c (the closest to stage 4 that you can get). Even after
remission, 80% of women with this stage of cancer do not live longer
than 5 years. So please- get this test done and get any bloating,
distention, or fluid found in the cul-de-sac checked! If found early,
this is so easy to treat. They can remove the cancer easily with no
chemo. No one else should have to go through what my mother did in
relation to this cancer.
At Thu, 23 Jun 2005, Lis wrote:
>
>Hello...well i can relate completely to the bloating and pain!! I am
>going through that now...i feel like i am pregnant! I was just in the
>hospital for about 2 weeks for extreme adominal pain...my stomach was
>bloated to the point where i thought it would explode and i couldn't
>stop vomiting. Well to make a long story short it turns out my
>gallbladder wasn't functioning at all. So i had my fourth surgery and
>they removed my gallbladder. Well i thought that would be it but two
>days later i was back admitted to the hosp. still bloated and in pain.
>They did all tests and an endoscopy to find that my stomach is
>completely inflammed and covered with ulcers....they said my body
>couldn't handle the surgeries( i had surgery three weeks prior to the
>gallbladder for my endo and they removed my appendix also bc it was
>attached to my uturus and ready to explode!!) also all the meds burnt a
>hole in my stomach! So now im dealing with the endo pain (which i also
>found out in the hosp that i had another cyst that ruputured which was
>causing all the lower pain), the surgery from my gallbladder and now the
>inflamation of my stomach. Sorry to sound like i'm complaining but like
>you i'm fed up. I just want to be normal to have one pain free day. My
>stomach is still bloated and no sign of it going down...maybe you have
>an ulcer or inflammation of the stomach as well...for that you would
>have to see a GI dr. Well i wish you luck and hopefully your pain goes
>away...feel free to email me...
>
>-Lis
>
>P.S How has the Yasmin worked for you? I am starting that next month??
>Does it help?? Thanks :)
>
>At Thu, 23 Jun 2005, anonymous wrote:
>>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>This is both a vent and also to see if anyone has experienced what I am
>>experiencing. I am 28 and have been dealing with endo since I was 23.
>>I've had surgeries, been on danazol, and have since been on birth
>>control pills (not continuously) to treat the endo. I've been on the
>>pill Yasmin for the past 2 years.
>>
>>Off and on since I had two surgeries to remove 1 ruptured and 1 8mm cyst
>>(surgeries were 6 months apart in the year 2000), I have had a bloated
>>abdomen--it looks like a distended stomach and ranges from my laporotomy
>>scar to my belly button. Over the past few months, the distended
>>stomach has gotten really bad--I feel like I'm pregnant! --and it's
>>quite noticable because I am very slender, which = embarrassing. I've
>>also had pain and pressure in my lower left abdomen and along my
>>laporotomy scar, and some constipation in spite of trying to eat enough
>>fiber each day.
>>
>>I went to see the doctor a month ago, and it was a very frustrating and
>>somewhat humiliating experience; she was not my regular doctor (I have
>>health care through a student health center because I am a graduate
>>student), and she was actually quite unprofessional and very cold /
>>mean. She didn't know my history at all, and looked through my chart
>>and then said "she didn't really know what to tell me; she had no idea
>>what was causing the pain", and then said to me "i don't know what you
>>want to do about this..I have no answer for you." after feeling my
>>ovaries and uterus. I have also been undergoing treatment for
>>Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression since January, and have been
>>on anti-depressants for these conditions. This doctor had the audacity
>>to suggest that my physical symptoms were "all in my head due to my
>>anxiety and depression". I left the clinic feeling embarrassed and very
>>frustrated.
>>
>>I cannot see my regular doctor at the clinic (who is great and
>>understanding) until school begins again in August, and I am wondering
>>if anyone else has any advice or anything that I can do about the
>>bloating. I have been keeping a pain journal to see if there is any
>>pattern to my pain and bloating.
>>
>>Thank you for any advice or stories like mine...
>
>--
><3 Lis
>
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