Whatis the fluid that is building up?

[Fwad]

Dear tc cancer form users , i m a 19 year old male diogned with testicular cancer and i had one of my testicle removed finished my 4* BEP and just had my rplnd three weeks ago . İ m in so much pain i had my first fluid drained last week there were six litters removed. And yesterday another 3.5 litters of fluid removed and now instead of feeling the relief i m in pain i have sharp pain on my left side it gets worsen when i walk else wise when i lie down nothing happens. İs there anyone who can tell me how often this fluid ia gonna come up? And also when am i actually going to feel better? İ mean its been three weeks i only had small improvements other than that there is nothing else. Please anybody out there to help me out. Thank you in advance.

[S P]

It sounds like you've got "ascites", which is what the fluid build-up is. Are you on any sort of special diet? I was on the MSKCC recommended no/low-fat diet for a few weeks since eating fatty foods causes the production of abdominal fluids, but after the RPLND those fluids don't drain properly yet. I didn't develop the condition, but if that's what you have (check with your doctor), it can help.

As far as pain, what kind of pain medications are you on? You're certainly going to feel the effects of the surgery for a good 2-3 months. I had my RPLND on June 22nd and just last week I was finally able to come off of Vicodin. Depending on how bad your pain is, you can also get Percocet but you'll have to talk to your doc for all of that. I found that Tylenol and Alleve type stuff basically did nothing for me as far as the strong abdominal burning and cramping feeling I was getting. 3 weeks is still pretty early. I found that if I didn't numb myself out with pain meds I'd be in so much pain that I'd just lay around all day, but on the pain killers I could be up and active a lot more which in the grand scheme of things is obviously a lot better.

[Fwad]

I am on special diet the doctor told me to not eat anythin fatty. Basically it was no fat diet but not stricted thou. Thats what i dont get. And the pain medicines i was on oxycodone and morphine at one point but they dont really help. I read you said it ll take good two to three months? Really omg than i got to do something i mean i cant stand to this pain much longer its just not good My doctor said i ll be up on my legs after two weeks but i guess the extras came out for me, the fluid and stuff. Is there anything you recommened for me about these pains. And i thank you soo much for your reply take care for now.

[S P]

OK well I'm only an 'expert' at things I've been through at this point, and fortunately I didn't develop any of the more severe RPLND complications so hopefully somebody else will chime in - there are others here that have had to deal with what you're going through. Oxycodone / Percocet is already pretty potent stuff, so if you're still having severe pain even with that I'm thinking something else might be wrong. Bowel or intestinal obstruction maybe? Post-release I only needed Vicodin for the most part - Percocet is 2-5x more powerful than that.

Hang in there, keep communicating everything to your doctors and whomever is supporting you through this, and be your own advocate. If something isn't right, push for answers and a plan and don't let up on people is all I can say. Sorry you're having to deal with all this but you'll get through it... The RPLND is no joke, the surgery itself and the recovery is easily the toughest thing I've ever had to go through in my life.

[julesTO]

Hi there,

Shaun had chylous ascites for months after his RPLND but it didn't come with increased pain. He was very uncomfortable (distended stomach, increased gas, difficulty finding a comfortable sleep position), but he didn't need an increase in pain meds or anything.

Is the pain associated with the spot where they're inserting the draining tube? Does it happen more after you eat, for example?? Have you had a CT scan to evaluate the extent of the problem?

I noticed you're in Canada - which hospital are you working with?

[Fwad]

The first time when i had the drainage done i felt pretty comfortable and nice but this time my stomach and legs just keep on aching. And yes i do live in canada and the hospitals i m at are the universty health cares, princess margeret and toronto west general. Also i wanna mension the pain medicine that i m taking is called oxycodone, and those pills help me just exactly three hours than all the aching comes back espicially on my legs. Thank you for all your help and reply.

[julesTO]

If you haven't already done so, please mention this to your head nurse at Princess Margaret as soon as possible. You shouldn't have to suffer this much -- they can prescribe different pain killers to see if another might work better, conduct tests to make sure you don't have a bowel obstruction, drain you more frequently, etc.

In the meantime, elevate your legs at the end of each day and put a hot or cold pack on the spot where they've inserted the draining tube.

But again, TALK TO THE NURSE/DOC - you've had a major surgery and you don't want to mess around with post-surgical complications.

Keep us posted!