r/stomachcancer

Hi everyone. I’m from India, and I’m posting because my family and I are honestly very scared and confused right now. I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has gone through something similar with a parent or loved one.
My dad is 50 years old and has stage 4 HER2-negative stomach cancer. He was diagnosed around Sept/Oct 2025, and at the time of diagnosis the cancer had already spread to his liver, so it was stage 4 from the beginning.
He completed 8 cycles of CAPEOX chemo (capecitabine + oxaliplatin). Unfortunately, instead of improving, his recent scans showed progressive disease.
His current scan/report shows:
Large stomach mass still present
Multiple liver metastases in both lobes of the liver
Enlarged lymph nodes around the stomach/liver area
Mild ascites/fluid in the abdomen
Largest liver lesion around 12 x 9 cm
Report says “progressive disease”
Right now his symptoms are:
black stools/bleeding
stomach and side pain
severe weakness and fatigue
numbness/loss of sensation in hands and legs from chemo neuropathy
cough that worsens the abdominal pain
Even with all this, he is still eating, walking, talking normally, and mentally fully present. He’s weak, but he’s still himself.
Today they gave him radiation to help with the bleeding and pain.
Now the doctors have asked our family to make a decision. They said they can either:
try a much stronger chemo,
or
stop aggressive treatment and focus on comfort care.
We asked the oncologist honestly what he would do if this was his own family member, and he said he would personally try the chemo because my dad is still only 50 and still functioning.
I know nobody here can predict outcomes, but I really need honest experiences from people who have seen similar cases:
Did second-line chemo help?
Was it worth it?
Did radiation help with pain/bleeding?
Has anyone seen good responses from immunotherapy after chemo stopped working?
How do you know when to keep fighting versus focusing only on comfort?
I think we’re all terrified of making the wrong decision.
Thank you so much to anyone who reads this or replies.

Age 35 Male
Obese Wt 103 and Height 182 cm

Been Suffering from stomach ache especially umbilical region for last 10-11 days some times radiating in the back. It starts in morning with 2-3 bowels and then a persistent pain and increases when I eat.

I underwent all the blood work 3-4 days back and Also had endoscopy and colonoscopy 1 year ago for other issues. I have been taking PPI and drotaverine for 3-4 days but issue doesn’t stop.
There is no visible blood in stool or any melena

What to do next ? Scared to death.

I'm a 29TW and I don't know if still have gastritis or something worse. Since last July, my stomach been hurting so bad that I had to leave work because of the pain. Like I only can stand for 5 minutes or I just start throwing up. I even have times, the pain goes extreme and I'm on the ground begging for the pain to stop. It felt like someone is squeezing my stomach very hard. No stomach prescribed medicine worked. It goes away on its own after a while was my only option. Even at the hospital, they gave me all of the different stomach medicine and didn't work at all. When I had an injection of Hydroxyzine Hydrochloride my stomach pain went away for a while but it just still coming back. I did a EGD and been diagnosed with Gastritis. That was last September. Everything changed when I move to Japan.

I have 0 clue why but since February, my stomach gotten way worse. Like the pain won't go away. Wake up with it and try to sleep with it. I tried Japanese OTC medicine but again, didn't work. I can drink fluids fine but foods is a problem. Like if I don't eat, pain. If I eat, pain. Also my Anxiety, BPD, Major Depression, PTSD, Gender Dysphoria more likely causing it as well. Recently, I'm getting air trapped in my throat too. Nausea to dry heaving then vomit. Even I have times my heart hurts too. I just don't know what to do. Like I can't even go outside with this pain. I don't know what to do? Last year, I been tested with CT scan multiple times and nothing. One time, one CT scan thought they saw something and I needed surgery but it was a false alarm but that didn't solve my stomach pain. To this day, I'm getting more scared that I might have stomach cancer or something. Since I don't have insurance in Japan because I don't work here. So going to the doctor is going to be expensive. In the bottom, I will give my symptoms of what I'm going through and another on my medicine I take that might also be a problem as well.

Symptoms

- Stomach pain

- Nausea

- Vomit

- Dry Heaving

- Heart pain

- Air trapped in my throat

- Fatigue

Medicine

Estradiol-2mg-three daily (HRT)

Spironolactone-100mg-two daily (HRT)

Progesterone-200mg-one night (HRT)

Finasteride-5mg-one daily (HRT)

Hi everyone! I am 36F and have been experiencing the following symptoms
Few months back I was having lots of stomach pains all over the stomach. Started in the lower/pelvic area and then moved all around. I was really constipated and my stools were very soft coming out and really stinky. And then fast forward I now have really loose stools and pooping a lot more.
After a bit of that I started with silent reflux and sore throat. Within 2 weeks I had full on reflux, heartburn, blood in pleghm in the morning, hoarse voice. I went to the doc and was given PPIs. They help a bit but the reflux is persistent. I’ve also had night sweats the past 1.5 months, lots of hair loss and the sour taste in my mouth.
I’ve been stool tested for H polryi which was negative, my ferritin is at 30 even though I eat a lot of red meat. I did a chest X-ray and it was clear and also the barrium swallow test and that was clear too. Im really struggling to find out what’s happening here as I’ve never had reflux in my life and now it’s persistent. When I go for runs I can feel my stomach absolutely burning and it takes a bit to recover from as it goes up my throat. Gaviscon doesn’t help either from when I’ve tried.
Please help if you have any insight. Thanks so much!

I have Stage 4 Gastric Cancer and I've developed ascites in the last week. The ER doctor told me this is a sign of progression, but referred me to my Oncologist for more details. I have an appointment coming up, but in the meantime thought I'd ask: Anyone experiencing ascites, what was your prognosis? Am I nearing the end?

If you’ve been diagnosed, was your cancer genetic? Stomach cancer runs hard in my family on my father’s side, but my dad doesn’t have it, he is 56.

However I’ve lost 75 lbs in the last 5 months (I went from 200 to 125) without trying at all, I feel full so fast, sometimes I don’t even have an appetite but other times I definitely do but still can’t eat more than a few bites. I also have intermittent upper stomach pain that feels like burning but I don’t feel it’s as intense as some of you have talked about. And then I do have extreme bloating, burping. Sometimes when I haven’t even eaten, but always after a few bites. Those are the main issues I am concerned about and there are other small things but I try not to freak out and start connecting everything or I get a bit worrier.

My husband presented himself to A&E 5 weeks ago with ascites, we blindly thought it was a gallstones issue as he had previous history of that.
He had lots of tests, the ascites drained (6 litres) and sent on his way with a follow up appointment with gastroenterology, he was at home for 6 days and I had to ring for an ambulance as the ascites came back with vomiting of blood. Again further tests and another drain (9 litres) 3 days of solid vomiting blood before they put the camera down and found evidence of stomach cancer possibly spread to the bowel. He is unable to digest food as this ulcerous mass is covering the ‘hole’ to his bowel so is on a strict liquid diet.
I am beyond distraught as his wife, he’s in hospital in a poor state, lost a huge amount of weight that they have said he isn’t a candidate for chemo. I feel like they’ve written him off. He has another drain planned for tomorrow and we should be soon contacted by the oncology with a plan once his tests etc have been considered.
Does anyone know of any UK support groups, I feel I’m in a permanent state of shock every attack and build up of ascites deteriorates him further and further

my boyfriend has been suffering from severe stomach pains for over 5 years. he receive the scope surgery early on and they found nothing but inflammation. he had to stop working because he was unable to bear the pain on duty. he’s lost so much weight so fast. symptoms: severe stomach pains ( side), can’t eat or drink without throwing it up, throwing up stomach lining, minimal bowel moments, has urinated blood multiply times, hands trimmers, weird stomach noises, can’t sleep due to pain, etc. he’s been to the ER multiple times, they run tests and find nothing.. they just give him an IV and send him home. we’ve tried every kind of healthy diets, teas, meds.. nothings works. public health has been a joke. he’s had ultrasounds and other tests done.. nothing. this amount of pain for this long and no answers is so draining, please if anyone can relate or can share something new.

Hi guys,

For around the last 5 months I have been getting sick in the mornings. It started around once a week but gradually increased over time. Over the last month it became daily, and during the last 2 weeks there were days I was vomiting extremely frequently (up to 30x a day)

I have also had severe pain below my belly button/lower abdominal area that has been 11/10 pain at times even after taking strong painkillers it only dropped to 6/10. I’ve been to the GP multiple times since January and was initially told possibilities like gastritis or H. pylori.

I was around 86kg in February, around 83kg in early April, and I am now around 76–77kg. I go to the gym regularly (usually 5x a week) and have been actively trying to bulk/eat more calories (36-3800 a day) but I’ve had very poor appetite, early fullness after a few mouthfuls of food, nausea after eating, and frequent vomiting.

About a week ago the abdominal pain became unbearable so I went to ED. They did a CT scan and initially thought I had a kidney stone around 6mm. I was given co-codamol, tamsulosin and antibiotics. Within a couple of days the severe pain improved dramatically and I no longer needed painkillers.

However, I then spoke to a urologist this week who said she is now not convinced it is definitely a kidney stone and that the weight loss, appetite loss and vomiting don’t really fit well with that diagnosis alone. She said I will be having another scan in the next couple of weeks. There was some white matter on the CT scan that was 6mm apparently though?

I am worried about whether something more serious could be going on, particularly because my grandad died from stomach cancer at 21 and my grandma has also had stomach cancer.

I’m in my early 30s. Is this something I should be pushing for further investigation/testing for?

Thanks