I was diagnosed a month ago with lung, liver and bone cancer.  Due to various complications I have yet to start and treatment.  In the meantime I have had several issues and feel like these issues are just trundling along and no-one can seem to fix them.  Feel like I am going mad.

1.  Thrush in mouth - side affect of antibiotics @ have tablets and mouth wash and this is under control

2.  Water retention - my legs from the hip down look like that of an elephant.  They literally feel like they are going to split open if I kneel or sit in a certain way.  When this first came on (about two weeks ago) I thought it was DVT related (I have a blood clot in my leg, pieces of which have broken off and settled on my lung and I am on a daily blood thinner).  My doctor, my local GP, and the Macmillan nurses have all told me this is water retention Andy yet no-one has advised me how to get rid of it, or given me any medication to deal with it.  I am trying to keep my legs elevated as much as possible but you cannot keep your legs up 24/7 and consequently it feels like it is getting worse

 3.  My stomach is so bloated and solid I look like I am about six months pregnant.  It has been like this for about three weeks now and it is getting worse.  I have raised it with my doctor, my GP, and the nurses.  Originally everyone assumed it was because I was constipated due to all the meds.  I don’t feel like I need to go to the toilet and haven’t pooed properly for three weeks.  Two weeks ago it was so bad I called the emergency doctor who completed a rectal exam and confirmed I had nothing in my back passage and she was concerned I had an obstruction higher up - I ended  up in A&E.  They did an abdominal x Ray which confirmed no poo, but some fluid on the stomach.  Apparently not a lot of fluid and my doctor refused to drain it because of the bleed risk.  My liver is enlarged so the nurses at the hospital prescribed a new medication to keep my stools soft to allow them to travel in the congested space left in my abdomen.  This week my local GP came to see me and I once again raised the issue because I don’t want to eat, I feel like everything I eat simply sits at the too of my stomach and cannot Ben digested which makes my stomach even more swollen.  She prescribed me a different medication that hasn’t made any difference.

So when I keep my legs raised my stomach really hurts because it is so squashed.  When I stand a rock in a vain attempt to ease my stomach by feet and legs begin to hurt - so I am in a vicious circle.

i have to really strain to wee and I cannot poo.  I am also not passing any gas.

Having researched on the internet (which I am never is sure is a good idea), I am convinced that I have more fluid on my stomach than the hospital team originally thought because I have all of the side affects caused by fluid in the stomach @ bloating, stomach and back pain, constipation etc.

i just don’t know what to do.  I feel like the doctors just are not listening to me and I can’t understand, having seem how distended, bloated, and solid my stomach is, that they appear to believe that it is acceptable that nothing more radical is done to help me get my stomach back to normal.

has anyone has any issues with side effects being so debilitating?

am at the end of my tether....