To my knowledge, the doctors did not shunt the albumin into the stomach. His abdomen was not distended and he was able to lose quite a bit of fluid weight. He would never have been able to have the surgery had he not gotten rid of that fluid.
It was my understanding that the albumin was necessary in order for the diuretic to be effective, in that protein has to be present for the diuretic to work. Do I have that straight?
I think what I am going to do is get my husband to ask for a referral to MDA (MD Anderson Hospital) from Sloan Kettering so that he can have his bi-yearly check-ups there and a dietitian consult also. Once he is a year or so post-op I think that will be fine with them. For the meantime, he is this surgeons “trophy” as he told us and he wants to keep up with his progress personally. He presented his case at a seminar in England. Of course, I don’t believe he will be sending my husband any round-trip tickets to New York for this pleasure! I want my husband to be religious about his checkups, as he was not before.
I don’t believe I mentioned that 7 years ago he had his first round of sarcoma and had a pelvic exenteration at MDA in which he sacrificed his bladder and prostate as well as other things involved in a pelvic clean-out. As you can see, he has been thru the wringer.
Thanks again, I will let you know what we do and what happens with the MRI.
Yes, you do have that straight if the albumin was low in his blood because of his inadequate liver function, then fluid would leak out of the blood and into surrounding tissues. Also, if his kidneys were involved, albumin may have been lost in urine rather than retained in the blood. In order for the diuretic to work, your husband needed to restore normal protein (albumin) levels in his blood because the effect albumin has on fluid balance.
Even if you continue with a doctor at Sloan Kettering (SKM), ask for a nutrition consult from a dietitian at MD Anderson which can be provided locally and follow the orders of SKM doctor. They can work together. Nutrition support has a BIG impact on healing and survival rates as well as the quality of life.
FYI, readers, sarcoma is a tumor that grows through connective tissue (muscles, ligaments, tissue) which you have all over your body. Pelvic exenteration is the removal of all organs in the pelvic area including male and female reproductive organs, anus, rectum, sigmoid colon and bladder are removed usually due to cancer. When the rectum is removed, a colostomy bag is used to collect feces and an external bladder is used to collect urine.
