stomache ache

amyd1

Dear All,

I've been "lurking" on this message board for some time. You all are amazing ladies. My mother was recently diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. She did a few rounds of chemo (carbo/taxol) then last week she had the debulking surgery. It went well. She's in the hospital recovering, but she has been having a constant stomache ache. Just wondering if this is normal after this surgery. She is feeling frustrated and has not been able to eat much. Will this get better? The drs and nurses haven't provided much insight. The hospital will likely release her in the next couple of days.

leesag

Stomachache
Hopefully, they didn't offer anything but ice chips until she passed gas (farted) and then only clear liquids until they were sure everything was working. If she had a total abdominal hysterectomy, omentumectomy etc., then post surgery stomach pain is normal. She may be feeling nauseous from the pain meds or other meds they are giving her. She should definitely discuss this with her doctor before she is released, though! If she isn't get a satisfactory response from the hospital doctor, she should call her med. oncologist or her gyn onc!

God bless!

Leesa

Unknown

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LaundryQueen

unknown said:

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stomach acid
I don't know if this applies to your mom:

I am assuming she truly has stomach pain as opposed to abdominal pain. The location makes a difference in figuring out how to treat the problem. During times of stress, the stomach will make stomach acid even if there is no food to digest. Maybe ask the doctor for stomach acid-blocking medicine to try.

Patients in the ICU are routinely given some kind of medicine to block stomach acid. I don't know if your mom is eating or not. I didn't eat for 5 days after surgery but I had a bowel resection...in retrospect, I should have had the chemo first.

After surgery, I had terrible low blood sugar problems and my family doctor explained that I had used up all of my stored sugar in my liver from fasting so long. So I had to eat potatoes, bread and other complex carbs to restore the "glycogen reserves."

Hope your mom feels better as soon as possible...it'll be awhile so be patient.

Hissy_Fitz

My stomach hurt for a long
My stomach hurt for a long time after my surgery. I had a big sugery - 5 or 6 hours. They took my ovaries, tubes, (uterus and cervix were long gone), omentum, and did a bowel resection. I was on oral pain meds for weeks after I came home, and I was in the hosptal, on a morphine pump, for 17 days before that.

I couldn't eat right away, either. I remember sending my husband to get me a sausage biscuit. It took me 3 days to finish it. I lived, at first, on applesauce and strawberries (I have no idea why these appealed to me, but they did). I found a cereal I liked and could eat about half a cup of it at a time. Just give her tiny bits of whatever sounds good to her.

The pain meds make you horribly constipated, and that might be part of the stomach pain.
Be sure she gets a stool softener and/or some Miralax. I take a vegetable laxative now and again.

Carlene