Since early March, my belly has been growing more and more distended. It is now so large that the skin over it is stretched taunt-- like a woman's in her third trimester. Even though I have retained my sense of taste and a fairly good appetite, I can now eat only small meals because of the ensuing pain if I stretch my stomach more than minimally with food. I no longer exercise beyond taking walks of less than a mile, as the slight rotation of the torso that is part of each step generates both moderate internal pain and a shifting of the cloth of my shirt that irritates the hypersensitive skin over my belly. The reduced caloric intake and lack of exercise are causing me to lose muscle mass steadily, yet I am gradually gaining weight. Although the pain is not intense enough to interest me in pain medication, the only position in which I am now pain- free is sitting. Even my back hurts in other positions, presumably from supporting the big belly.
Dr.Saltz and his colleagues have not seen a similar case and have no idea why my belly is growing. They have scheduled me for more blood tests and a CAT scan and then for appointments on Tuesday, May 25, with Dr. Jarnagin, the surgeon who operated on my liver, and with Dr. Saltz.
There is nothing that I can do about this mysterious complication other than be practical. For the last few weeks, I have been relegated to wearing low-cut jeans. Consequently, I decided to send my clothes to my tailor with instructions to enlarge the waistbands of the trousers and the waists of the jackets to the maximum extent that there is spare cloth in each garment. I hope that some of them turn out to be wearable. With no chemotherapy, I may feel good enough this week to go somewhere that requires clothing more formal than jeans.
