Some uneasiness reading the re-posts from dr d:
Post# of 148050
"61% had visceral Mets at the time of initial diagnosis ( ascites with distended abdomens from weeping mesenterium)"
"mesenterium": Not sure what country or century this is from (maybe it is correct Latin and found in Gray's Anatomy texts). Just say mesentery.
"visceral mets": Spread of tumor to the viscera. Viscera are solid (liver, spleen, kidneys...) or hollow (bowel, bladder...). Large volume ascites is more commonly related to decreased liver function, often because normal tissue has been replaced by tumor, or because the whole organ has been damaged by alcohol use...Ascites from ovarian and other tumors is a different issue.
The liver helps with that delicate balance needed for the blood to keep/carry oxygen/nutrients/etc versus the need for transfer of those things out into the body's tissues (capillary permeability). There is a tap dance of osmotic and hydrostatic pressures, and many chemical gradients and lots of etc. Not enough albumin in your blood plasma? Easier for the serum (the watery part of your blood) to leak out into your tissues (including your belly). Tumor toxins (and chemotherapy toxins) can also disrupt this balance. It's hard for the fluid to get back into the system, so it can accumulate over time.
I highly endorse the science comments made by Ohm and others here on hangout. While waiting for our Golden Quarter, it's healthier for me to avoid all other message boards. While we're waiting, the number of our friends, colleagues, and family killed by a basket trial cancer or otherwise affected by the Ohm20 disease list grows. That is infuriating. Reading comments by shorts makes it worse, so I don't do that anymore. GLTA.