Fluid around lungs

lenjam
lenjam Member Posts: 51
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
When my mom was diagnosed with OC, it was found because of fluid building up around her lungs. She had chest tubes put in and has had to have them drained every day, then every two days, now every three days. Fluid slowed down a little but not very significant. Doctor told us that after the first infusion of chemo she would see a decrease in the fluid build up. That the chemo would "kill" the fluid build up since it's killing the cancer cells that make up that fluid. When that didn't happen she was told that sometimes it takes until the second infusion. Now, three infusions later she still has the chest tubes, still has to be drained every three days with not much decrease, and sometimes no decrease at all.
Anyone have that happen?
It's very discouraging to all of us, especially mom. She was so looking forward to having
the tubes taken out. They are uncomfortable and make it very difficult to walk.
Any imput would be welcomed and appreciated.
thanks!

Comments

  • wendybill
    wendybill Member Posts: 84
    #2
    Hate this for your mom
    As you probably recall, my mom also had pleural effusions. This issue contributed greatly to the respiratory failure she was in after her second surgery. She had the drains for weeks. After the cisplatin started, she did stop producing as much. Has your mom's output slowed down enough to do the pleurodesis procedure with talc or antibiotic? This really did the trick for my mom's situation. Feeling for you.
    Wendy
  • confuzzled
    confuzzled Member Posts: 21
    #3
    Can you
    Talk to your mom's doctor and ask if she is strong enough to do VAT surgery for her? My peritoneal cancer was found because I had fluid in my lungs. Mine got so bad that I couldn't draw a breath and ended up in the emergency room. They did the VAT's surgery the next day and drained most of the fluid from my lungs. I had 3 chest tubes hanging out of me and was in the hospital for 2 weeks, but I can breathe so much better now. That was in the beginning of April.

    I hope the doctors find something soon to help your mom.

    Jane
  • Tina Brown
    Tina Brown Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #4
    confuzzled said:

    Can you
    Talk to your mom's doctor and ask if she is strong enough to do VAT surgery for her? My peritoneal cancer was found because I had fluid in my lungs. Mine got so bad that I couldn't draw a breath and ended up in the emergency room. They did the VAT's surgery the next day and drained most of the fluid from my lungs. I had 3 chest tubes hanging out of me and was in the hospital for 2 weeks, but I can breathe so much better now. That was in the beginning of April.

    I hope the doctors find something soon to help your mom.

    Jane

    Ditto Jane
    My PPC was also diagnosed by having fluid around my lungs. Mine was also so bad I had an emergency chest drain. I'm not sure what a VAT is (I'm from the UK) but my surgeon did a procedure where (under sedation and local anesthetic) drained all the fluid from my right lung and immediately inserted talc into the cavity to stick the 2 plueral linings together to prevent fluid build up. I had this done Nov 26th 2009 and I am still fluid free - yipee. It works :)

    Tina
  • confuzzled
    confuzzled Member Posts: 21
    #5
    Tina Brown said:

    Ditto Jane
    My PPC was also diagnosed by having fluid around my lungs. Mine was also so bad I had an emergency chest drain. I'm not sure what a VAT is (I'm from the UK) but my surgeon did a procedure where (under sedation and local anesthetic) drained all the fluid from my right lung and immediately inserted talc into the cavity to stick the 2 plueral linings together to prevent fluid build up. I had this done Nov 26th 2009 and I am still fluid free - yipee. It works :)

    Tina

    Tina
    That's exactly what I had done. They call it VATS here, I know it's short for something, but for the life of me I can't remember what that is.
  • lenjam
    lenjam Member Posts: 51
    #6
    confuzzled said:

    Tina
    That's exactly what I had done. They call it VATS here, I know it's short for something, but for the life of me I can't remember what that is.

    My mom did have the
    My mom did have the pluerodesis - or talc down. And it didn't stop the fluid so then they put in the two chest tubes that she also has hanging out of here. They have been in for months. She has them drained every 4 days and she's getting about 350 - 400 on each side. Before they put the tubes in she could barely breathe at all. I wonder if the surgeon that did the talc even knew what he was doing. It seems to me from reading the posts on here that
    people that had the fluid and did the plueodesis that stopped their fluid or when they started the chemo it stopped the fluid. Mom goes to the doctor tomorrow to check her blood to make sure she can have the next infusion and I'm hoping the doctor has some answers for her, other than sometimes it takes longer for the chemo to kill the cells...it's all so frustrating. Thanks for your input.

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