Ascities getting out of control

Barbara…we are with you, all the way. And don’t ever forget the contributions you are making to this site. All of us learn from each other.
My heart is with you,
Hugs
Marion

I used to work in radiology and we used to do them under ultrasound-we had a doctor very skilled in ultrasound procedures.We had them down to a fine art and none of the palliative patients needed to stay long.With the pleural drainage there is more risk of puncturing the lung but with the peritoneal cavity its probably infection or drop in bp.Actually my husband had a paracentesis done at home and luckily I was able to assist the doctor with it Janet

Morning Barbara. You made your decision out of love and your Dad received relief… He’s so lucky to have you, and I hope you both enjoy that taste of sweet wine together this evening! It’s wonderful news that he ‘wanted’ to eat, the small miracles of a day to be grateful for.

Sending many hugs….
Tess

Janet, I had both done done in the ward and CT guided. Basically I was told that with CT you can immediately see if there is any damage as far as punctured lungs, even if a pin hole and can be taken care of immediately. On the ward it is is usually done with sonogrham and the stay is for the same reason, to be precautious. They normally use a portable xray machine after so many hours then one more before discharge to ensure all is well. There is just so much that can be poked or perferated, they want to make sure. I am happy Barbara’s Dad was able to get fluid drained and I pray it stays away. Barbara, I sure hope your Dad’s drainining is for an extended period or stays drained. Did the Doctor mention anything about taking Ibprofen to help keep the inflammationation down? I know it helped big time on me. Bless you Girl, your one loving daughter!
Jeff G.

My partner has severe ascites and gets drained every 7-9 days at the moment, typically they take 7.5L from her tiny body – she only weighs 48Kg with 7.5L of fluid in her.

In her case the ascites is caused by cancer cells on her stomach lining. Apparently we produce this fluid in small amounts to allow the internal organs to move freely about – slide over one another. In the case of cancer cells that are on the stomach lining this irritation causes the body to respond as though more fluid is required, hence more is produced. Normally more fluid would ease any irritation caused by the lack of fluid but in the case of cancer the irritation continues as does the fluid production.

The worst thing is that once the fluid is removed it seems to build up relatively quickly. Fiona was only kept in hospital once, the first time a large amount was taken – this caused her to have severe referred pain in her shoulder caused by relief of pressure from the ascites on the diaphram. They kept her in to ease the pain. Since that time it has been a relatively simple procedure but gives her much relief.

Barbara I wonder why he has to stay overnight,I would have thought a few hours observation would be sufficient.Is it being done in a Radiology department or in a ward situation?
Janet

Barbara,
I cant imagine what it must be like making decisions for someone else…I have enough of a problem making them for myself. You are doing everything right and there is no perfect answer so you have to do what you think is best at the time. There is no good path to follow, only the one we cut for ourselves and it isnt always the best, but the best one we good find at the moment.

Kris