Already a member? Sign in
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
Hi,
I went in today to see if the pain I was feeling was a recurrance of ov/ca. I am happy to report that my tests look good. The oncologist belives it could be adhesions from the debulking surgery. Has anyone else had this experience and what did it feel like?
Thanks,
Vickie
Exercise Cancer Surgery Back pain Morphine Ovarian cancer Anxiety Herniated disc Probiotics Hernia Endometriosis Acupuncture Ovarian cysts Hysterectomy Physical therapy Cervical cancer Pain Neurontin Diarrhea Prilosec
I have had this problem, too, Vickie. It was a low level pain, not stabbing pain or so intense that it interferes with my life. More like a tightness and a pressure on my upper right abdomen. When it first started (I'm almost 3 years post chemo now) it was about a year post chemo and I was worked up for possible gall bladder problems.
One the gyn onc decided it was adhesions I started applying Edgar Cayce castor oil packs which brought a lot of relief to the area. I also have acupuncture for this and my acupuncturist can see the tightness in the area release during her treatment.
It's good to do what you can to encoutrage the scar tissue to relax. At its worst adhesions can cause bowel obstruction and require surgery.
Have a blessed day,
Martha
Thank you. I will try the Edgar Cayce castor oil packs. That's very do-able.
Vicki,
I'm the caretaker for my mother who has recurrent ovarian cancer. My mum's oncologist told us that chemo is sometimes not as effective in patients who have recurrent ovarian cancer because of adhesions that grew as a result of the debulking surgery. Apparently the adhesions prevent the chemo from reaching tissues it needs to.
I found this really interesting because I actually work at a small manual physical therapy clinic that specializes in adhesions. The founder of the clinic had cervical cancer in her 30s and then had adhesions after her surgery. She was a physical therapist and began studying manual techniques to reduce the pain in her pelvis. When she found that the techniques eliminated her pain, she opened a clinic to treat pain and dysfunction (tightness, pulling, etc.) caused by adhesions. Basically, manual therapists use their hands to examine the tissues of the body for tightness, immobility, imbalance, etc. They then use their hands to restore mobility, reduce tension, etc. It's a form of physical therapy, but no machines are used. If you want to know more, I'd be happy to put you in touch with her. She might be able to help you find a manual physical therapist near where you live. We're down in Florida. She could also put you in touch with some women who have had adhesions, so you can better ascertain if that is indeed what you are experiencing.
Take Care,
Jackie
Hi Vic,
I have a history of adhesions....for some reason I grow
tissue inside my body. In 1999 I was having some abdominal pain as well as right flank tenderness...like if you had a kidney infection or kidney stone as well as a dumping effect every time I ate something.
After several diagnostic tests it was considered that I might have endometriosis or abdominal adhesions. There were no diagnostic tests to show the adhesions at that time, the only way was to do a laporoscopy.
Sure enough, I had them and they were removed and I was good to go for 7 years.
In 2006 I started having the same symptoms and figured the only way to get relief was to have a laporoscopy again, but surgeons don't like to go in and remove them because then it creates more scar tissue. Things got worse. I begged for a surgeon to go in and take a look but everyone passed the buck and for 6 months I went through all kinds of diagnostic testing...even a colonoscopy and I did have adhesions but also had stage lllC Ovarian Cancer. I had done some research and found that if there was a radiologist who could do a "realtime" ultrasound that they would show a decrease in visceral slide and that would prove that something was not allowing the internal organs to move about freely within the abdomen but that was not available where I live.
Like you, the symptoms returned again last year and
I thought it was the OVCA returning but it was the adhesions. I was told that they didn't want to go in and get them out because they would have had to open the big incision that they made for the radical debulking, clean up the scar tissue there and then go in and remove the adhesions once again. However,
one can get what is known as a frozen abdomen if they are opened up too many times and
with having OVCA it is quite possible that one thing that will happen if the cancer starts growing again is to have a bowel obstruction and they would have to go in and get that so if I were to have a frozen abdomen, I could no longer have any surgeries in that area. It was decided to not go in for now, wait to see if the cancer starts growing and when they HAVE to go in they will clean up the adhesions at that time.
My doctor turned me over to a pain management doc.
I take Neurontin 2 X a day and time released morphine 2 X a day and that gave me back some quality of life.
Sometimes the pulling would get so bad that I couldn't stand for very long and the constant pain would cause my blood pressure to spike and I would get dizzy.
It felt like someone was inside my body grabbing onto
my abdomen and back and pulling it inward.
I would also have a dumping effect when I ate because the adhesions had attached themselves to the small instestine and caused a stricture and then food wouldn't digest or pass through to the large intestine. The colon would call for more acid to break down the food that was caught in the stricture so that new food could be digested. I would run to the bathroom in terrible pain and have diarrhea. This was a BIG issue for me in 1999 and for 4 years every time I ate I would have this dumping effect and sometimes it would come on before I had finished eating a meal....a terrible thing to happen when you're at a restaurant and all of a sudden you break out into this sweat, have terrible sharp pain and have to run to the bathroom and hope you get there in time.
I found myself not wanting to eat because I knew that there would be a repeat performance of this dumping effect.
Hopefully your doctor could refer you to someone certified in pain management and you also could get
back a decent quality of life. It sure has helped me.
I don't take a high dosage of these drugs just enough to take the edge off of the constant pain and pulling.
Best of luck to you!
Blessings,
Luann
Oh Luann,
It sounds just awful. Perhaps you can try the treatments that others have tried. I see a massage therapist and do believe that massage has helped me greatly.
Good luck to you.
Vickie
I had a radical hysterectomy in May 2008 for ovca.
I haven't had any issues with pain until recently.
My CAT scan on Mon. Oct 5 shows something. My oncologist said it could be adhesions or the return of ovca.
I'm quite upset.
Could my joining karate in July have created, aggravated or worsened adhesions? My doctor won't say. Mentally, karate has cleared my mind and I feel better, but could I have caused any "damage". How long does it take to completely heal inside after a hysterectomy?
From what I understand, adhesions can cause problems even years after surgery. I had surgery in January 2002 and except for some stomach problems shortly after surgery, I had felt good since then. In February of this year, I developed daily pains that come and go. I have been to many doctors and done many tests, none of which showed anything. The gastro I went to did tell me that adhesions can develop years after surgery. I prefer to think my problem is adhesions, not cancer--a colonoscopy and a CT showed nothing amiss--but adhesions are not too much fun, and there are not too many useful treatments available.
I wouldn't think that karate would have an effect on adhesions, but that is only a guess.
Adhesions can be problematic for long after the original surgery. My sister had surgery for suspected ovca in 1991. Thankfully it turned out to be endometriosis. However, adhesions from that surgery caused an almost fatal bowel obstruction 4 years later.
It's like we trade one condition for another.
Here's hoping what is showing up on your scan is just adhesions. How and when will you find out?
So Lisa what are they going to do to tell if it's something or "just adhesions"... like that isn't trouble enough... A couple of weeks after my surgery I was having severe spasm like pain in the area between my ribs around my stomach. I was getting my ports placed so mentioned it to my gyn/onc. When he went in with the laproscopic exam he was able to release some of the adhesions and said that was what was probably causing my pain. Unfortunately there were so many adhesions that I didn't get the port because it would have been useless. Nothing was going to flow through that mess. I also had an ultrasound after the surgery just to make sure there wasn't something more going on like my gallbladder but I never had any more pain after that. Right now I have a couple of areas that feel weird like a knot but it is not painful and I am assuming (and hoping) it is adhesions and not "something else". I absolutely hate how every little thing makes us fear the worst.
I hope you don't have to wait long for an answer. At least for me, even bad news is better than waiting for answers. At least then you know what your options are and can start something to fix it. Wait is just a nasty 4 letter word.
Lifeisgrand:
My doctor is going to try and fight the insurance company to pay for a PET scan. Either way I'm going for one on Tues.
If it's only adhesions I can easily live with the minor stomach discomfort I have. If it's something else... well, I don't know if I can or want to go through anymore treatments.
Thanks for your input. As I wrote to Lifeisgrand I'm going for a PET scan Tues. I'll post what happens when I know. Who can better appreciate my concerns than the ladies here. Thanks for this much needed support!
Thank you Luann,
Many of your symptoms sound like mine.
Any idea how much these PET scans cost? I haven't needed that one so don't have a clue but I have to get preapproval even on the CT scans. I would do the same thing you are... get the scan now and worry about who pays later. I will keep my prayers on for adhesions.
I'm waiting on CA125 results this week after the last one was up and Shamrock had an MRI for back pain on Friday. So you're not alone in your anxiety. I think the waiting makes you feel worse. The dread of what you might find out just makes me totally sick.
Hi Ladies,
I would be interested in knowing if there is a test that will show adhesions other than "real time ultrasound" and measuring the visceral slide(movement) of the organs in the abdomen. Even though adhesions usually have a blood source that allows them to grow, I was told that there is no way to detect them without
exploratory surgery....then, I started researching about detection and the "real time ultrasound" was the only test that I found that could detect them.
I also learned that a lot of radiology clinics and groups do not do "real time ultrasound".
I had CT scans in 1999 after 4 years of running to the bathroom before I even finished a meal. I was still having this digestive problem with instense pain.
I saw 6 doctors, had a colonoscopy, as well as other diagnostic tests, before the 7th doctor made a call to my gynecologist saying that maybe I had endometriosis or abdominal adhesions and suggested exploratory surgery at which time the adhesions were lysed out and I was good to go.
I heard all kinds of explanations like IBS, colitis, you name it...some of the doctors even looked at me like
I was making it up.
I have never had a PET scan so I don't know if the scan is a worthy test for adhesions...but I understand that certain types of cancer will light up like a Christmas tree.
I also believe that I read where the PET scan is considered a good monitoring tool for OVCA recurrence.
I know some Oncologists order them for their OVCA patients but my Oncologist isn't one of them.
When I read posts where ladies talk about having a recurrence and their CA-125 hasn't risen, I would think that an astute Oncologist would order a PET
scan to remove all doubt of a possible recurrence
of OVCA.
I have found this website to be a wealth of information
for those of us who battle with this disease.
When I read some of the posts it makes me realize that
if one doesn't feel as though their Oncologist has his/her patient's best interest at heart or hand, it's time to find another Oncologist who does.
I pray that we all can remain stronger than OVCA but have also learned that it is "quality" of life that is important, not quantity.
I am in pain management for my adhesions because most doctors will not open up a cancer patient until they absolutely have to do so....I might suggest that
those of you who have pain ask to be referred to a pain management doctor. I'm not in lala land every day, I can enjoy life and remain mobile with the meds.
It's wonderful to enjoy each day without all of the pulling and the pain.
Blessings!
Luann
I just found this in an article about adhesions following c-section:
===============================================
Adhesion is simply a medical term used to describe a scar tissue development. During c-section . . . the surgeon will close the c-section opening with sutures into various layers of the abdominal wall. As a result of this trauma, scar tissue, known as adhesion, will develop, leading to potential complications in the abdominal area.
With adhesions, as years pass, organs within the abdominal wall typically become entangled in the adhesion or compressed by the adhesion, resulting in abdominal pain which many women describe as cramping. While these abdominal pains are not associated with menstrual cramping, while very similar, they often lead a woman to obtain a misdiagnosis in treatment.
===========================================
Well, I guess most of us here won't think of menstrual cramping, given that we are missing the requisite organs.
Not all the descriptions I've seen of adhesion symptoms mention this cramping feeling, but for me, this has been one of the most significant symptoms since this began in February.
Funny that I've seen three family doctors, one gynecologist, two oncologists, and one gastoenterologist since this began, and only the gastroenterologist suggested that my problem might be caused by adhesions. I suppose if more doctors actually listened to what the patient is saying, I might have gotten better answers.
Lifeisgrand,
I'm going for a PET scan Tuesday. My insurance has been saying they won't pay for it. I'm told it's anywhere between $3,000-$6,000.
Good luck today my friend. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
I just got out of hospital after 10 days stay due to low counts, & severe colitis...i never expected that!
I also mentioned to the doctors that I had been having left sided pain everytime I ate...this has been ongoing since June when I had my IP port taken out...
If I try to eat too much I can feel the pain get more & more intense & it feels like I have a grapefruit under my ribs/heart/stomach area....I can't get comfortable for about 45 min after I eat...
Many tests were done while I was in the hospital & a G.I. dr did an Endoscopy and said he could see that "something is clearly pushing in on my stomach"
But CT scan did not show anything and so the thinking is i do have scar adhesions....
Will have follow up with G.I. doc end of the month and next week with the chemo doctor...see if I can handle going back to treatments once colitis is healed...
ANYONE here experience colitis after chemo??
Hi, I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer last Aug, had surgery, last chemo was May 09'. For the past couple of months or so my body just aches alot. It does feel like a bladder infection but it's not. I do have 3 herniated disc, DJD, and DDD so I hurt just about all the time. I'm about ready to call the doctor for something for pain. It's so hard to get out of bed in the morning. I work 6:00am til 2:30pm as a Medical Secretary for the Dept. of Veteran's Affair's so I'm sitting but do get up and walk to see if some of the pains go away, they don't. I've had 3 CT done since May and everything comes back negative. They show no scar tissue but the pain gets severe at times. What can I do??
Add to the discussion