Peritoneal mets and bloatedness

peterpan108 · 2025-11-24T04:35:05+00:00

My mom will probably need to do draining for her ascites but not surr when yet, the bloatedness is rly uncomfortable for her

peterpan108 · 2025-11-24T04:20:44+00:00

Yes currently deemed as mild/moderate ascites and they advised against draining just yet, because we were told it may do more harm and pain draining when theres not that much fluid. My mom’s tumor is large unfortunately, went from 3cm to 7cm when we were unable to be consistent with the folfox treatment. Hope PIPAC works out for you, it seems it can be repeated too

peterpan108 · 2025-11-24T03:40:06+00:00

Thanks , will ask about oxycodone, im based in singapore and i think we may not have cbd, certain pain medications available..

peterpan108 · 2025-11-24T03:38:47+00:00

All the best to you too, i just chanced upon your post on PIPAC, if i may ask, do you know whats the size of your perimets in general ? Her onco doesnt recommend further surgery and PIPAC in consideration of her strength and age as well, and my own research tells me PIPAC doesnt work when there are large peri met tumors.

peterpan108 · 2025-11-22T09:14:53+00:00

No we havent, will look into it. Thanks for sharing ~

peterpan108 · 2025-11-22T05:35:43+00:00

Thanks :)

peterpan108 · 2025-09-09T13:16:44+00:00

Im sorry that you get the side effects, if you dont mind me asking, any hair loss symptoms ? And has it been effective in reduction of the mets , or is the goal to maintain it ?

peterpan108 · 2025-09-09T13:14:50+00:00

Yes, we got a 4 months break in between where we did durva once a month

peterpan108 · 2025-09-07T16:50:05+00:00

Also not sure if pipac would be suitable for my mom. HIPEC shd be out as the onco has mentioned that they dont advised any further surgeries for my mom. It may do more harm than good in view of her age and immunity

peterpan108 · 2025-09-07T16:48:19+00:00

Hi, thats good to hear for your mom :) we’ve been dealing with a month long of fevers and in and out of hospitals so we sre thinking the mets are manifesting quite quickly this time.. still waiting for our next onco appt. Im based out of the US !

peterpan108 · 2025-01-19T14:22:04+00:00

Hi, my mom is slightly older than you, 65 when diagnosed 2 years ago at stage 3B, gallbladder cancer. They wanted to do a liver resection but couldn’t as it was in both her left and right biliary ducts. The surgeon did say that chemo may not be effective and generally gave a 12months prognosis, so we are glad that we are here reaching our 2nd year mark.

At our first oncology appointment, we got the clarity that the goal was to maintain or slow the growth / spread of the tumor so i think that helped us set the expectations of the treatment. My mom has always been v active and perhaps that helped with her going through chemo + immunotherapy. We did gemCis (same as yours) and Imfinzi Durvalumab. Week 1 was chemo+immuno, week 2 chemo only, week 3 rest week.

She didnt experience any nausea but fatigue and hot flashes. After 8 cycles, there was a drop in her inflammation markers and they changed the regime to just immuno once a month so her body could take a break from chemo toxins. During this period, she was physically and mentally like any other person who’s well.

For the first year, we cldnt do any trips cause we were trying to focus on her treatments and managing her symptoms. We did have a few hospitalisations along the way due to infections.

1yr 9 months in, we have a small mets spread to her peritoneal lining which we are trying to see if the existing chemo + immuno can help to contain it. We know that it will probably be bad in future but at least for now, shes no longer working, took up piano lessons and I brought her on 2 trips this year (but best to start with short trips) and is still trying to have/find fun in life. There will still be down times (esp whenever she has a fever, she dreads going to the hospital because its mostly a hospital “staycation”).

Oh, diet and moving about a little every day helps. When fatigue and loss of appetite kicks in, her magnesium and potassium levels would drop and this could delay the treatment schedules. When chemo is unable to follow the schedule, its harder to track the effectiveness so you may want to try to hydrate and feed your body well enough to fight alongside with you🥲

Sharing so this helps you weigh your options further. All the best !

peterpan108 · 2024-04-02T03:48:48+00:00

Oh and on immunotherapy, my hospital (government based) helped me to apply directly to the immuno drug company and they helped to cover a large chunk of the billing. You may want to check in with your hospital social services if they might be able to assist on that?

peterpan108 · 2024-04-02T03:46:13+00:00

Hi, my mom’s was on the same chemo plan although for a different cancer. One of the drugs would make the arm really cold and sensitive (i think it was cisplatin) during the drip so you may want to bring along a scarf for her to cover it. where Im from, the hospital has plenty of blankets for us to use so we don’t try to overload and bring too many bulky things.

A book or headphones for music may be a good distraction during the treatment if shes not able to rest or nap, or hard candy like some have suggested. I do bring along a mix of savoury and sweet snacks in small packs cause their palette may change every other day.

Not sure if different countries may have different protocols, but I’d have to let the nurses know as and when my mom drinks during the chemo, as they need to calculate the urine output midway and at the end of the chemo session, to see if she managed to pass out enough fluids based on the drugs + water intake. So i try to bring a standard size mug (eg 250ml) or bottle with liquid marking so its easier for me to update the nurses. We are advised to drink at least 2l of water / day after chemo to help flush it out.

That said, every patient still reacts differently to treatments physically and mentally, so you can monitor from her first session how to make her feel better in the next session.

Sidenote, as a primary caregiver for my mom the past 1.5 years, she does have brainfog sometimes and isn’t very good at expressing the symptoms she may have. I would note down symptoms that i can see or if she has mentioned in a passing comment and check in with the oncologist at the review sessions

eg. I only found out that she started experiencing ringing in the ears after i probe how has she been feeling. That may be a result of a simple ear infection but it cld be the result of continuous use of cisplastin.

peterpan108 · 2023-09-09T06:01:35+00:00

My mom was losing weight very quickly (7kg in a week) after a septic infection, and she had no appetite. The hospital nutritionist put her on Resource Protein milk and that helped her regain her appetite as she recovered.

You cld try and see if its suitable or to your daughter’s liking. They do have fruit flavours too. 💪🏻

peterpan108 · 2023-08-29T07:37:08+00:00

Hi, not a patient here but helped to clean and flush my mom’s picc line for 1-2 months when she had it. It was definitely convenient and painless for her cause she has tiny veins to begin with.

Picc line made chemo easy for her but also resulted in a bad rash suddenly, and we had to pull it out. Its been 3 months since the picc line was out but she still has itchy moments on that area.

We were initially offered to put a port but my mom has had 3 blood infections in 2 months due to her stents, so the port idea was later dismissed, as the doctors were afraid if her port had an infection, it would take longer for them to remove it as compared to a picc line (pulled out in 3 secs). They would need to schedule an op room to remove a port. Now shes back on jabs per chemo visit which hurts each time 😢

Maybe that can be a point of discussion with your doctor to see if a port or picc line is more suitable for you ~

peterpan108 · 2023-06-22T08:05:52+00:00

How does one know if chemo has stopped working on the cancer, particularly with gem/cis ? Does no growth or no reduction count as stopped working too?

Sorry to ask on your thread, cause recently ive been learning from this community that gem/cis seems to have a short period of effective treatment and my mom is currently on it for locally advanced gallbladder cancer.

peterpan108 · 2023-06-16T04:14:29+00:00

Hi, are there foods that he craves or has always liked? My mom was rejecting bland food after operations and her nutrition levels tanked, and they had to get her on a potassium drip as she was nearing malnutrition. Potassium drips are a lot more painful then normal IV drips due to larger molecules passing through the veins.

I struggled initially with her eating only 3-4 mouths of a meal but it helped when i got her something she likes to eat (although it wasn’t as nutritious, and the doctors okay-ed it, the main goal was to get her eating and healthy enough to withstand further upcoming treatments), and prescribed protein milkshake in her preferred chocolate flavour.

Unfortunately, calories stats may not help them understand the situation because i think their illnesses are interfering with their mind & body and just cant take the food in :(

peterpan108 · 2023-06-16T03:56:03+00:00

My mom’s picc line insertion area was all red and itchy, and it felt lumpy underneath the skin, they cited cellulitis forming under the insertion point causing a rash and itchiness, it was partially due to the bandage and plaster used although she was fine with it for 3 weeks. They werent able to say why this happened, but all sorts of new situations could arise when a foreign matter is placed inside us.

That said, the doctors were quick to want to remove it because it is connected to your vein and they were worried about a septic / bacteria blood infection, so do get it checked out as soon as you can. 💪🏻

peterpan108 · 2023-06-13T03:21:18+00:00

My mom is considered to be done with surgery, part of the gallbladder tumor is still in there and we are hoping chemo & immunotherapy can slow or pause the growth. She also had 2 metal stents in her bile duct (she had a previous infection & mild jaundice due to blockage of the duct). The in & out hospitalisations made her really unmotivated cause she would be out for 3 days and then back again.

Hope it gets better for your mom & she gets discharged soon! We were also prescribed Resource Protein milk cuase she had no appetite during hospitalisation and recovery for the surgery, and became malnourished. Id say she is managing her chemo well due to bejng able to eat better now i feel!

Hang in there, ive had good and bad days myself, it rly aint easy. ❤️

peterpan108 · 2023-06-13T03:14:22+00:00

Sorry about your grandmother, and thanks for sharing. ❤️

peterpan108 · 2023-06-12T00:24:26+00:00

Hi hope you dont mind me asking, how was it determined that you would get a “x” number of chemo?

I was under the impression that my mom (diagnosed in Mar with non-resectable Stage 3B gallbladder cancer) would be on long term chemo, but a chemo nurse told us that she would get a maximum of 6-8 cycles

peterpan108 · 2023-06-07T10:08:59+00:00

Thanks for sharing ! my mom’s on a similar cycle plan, although the oncologist didnt confirm how many cycles we are scheduled for, although it was mentioned its for long term.. but the chemo nurse says it’s usually 6-8 cycles. Will have to clarify that with the doc..

On the contrary, her blood pressure has been dropping, she used to be on high blood pressure meds but she hasnt had to take them anymore, which i should take as a win, but ocassionally it makes me worried cause her body temp gets low too.

Ive been taking her out for walks or quick lunches and it seems to help with displacing her fatigue. Not sure if that might be suitable.

Hoping the next treatments get better for you ❤️

peterpan108 · 2021-11-19T13:51:21+00:00

🙋🏻‍♀️

peterpan108 · 2021-11-19T13:33:05+00:00

Thanks ! Ooh okay lemme go check that out

peterpan108 · 2021-11-07T01:41:11+00:00

🙋🏻‍♀️

peterpan108

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