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Posted 1/19/2015 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
My husband was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver 6 years ago....when he first found out he had Hep C. The Hep C was treated and now completely gone..but after years of taking pain medicines with acetamitophine in them...his liver has gotten worse. He quit drinking for a while, but about a year ago started again...slowly...
then it snowballed out of control. Last night I noticed that his skin is jaundiced..told him..and that was like a
wake up call for him...as of today..he has not had a drop of alcohol...not feeling too good..but is working through it. I think he thought it would never get that bad. He has had no appetite for some time...tired all the time..no muscle tone at all...and bruises and bleeds very easily. Also his stomach is swollen which I believe is ascites. He has been going to a liver center in our home town...and think they should be seen again. He wants to wait a couple of days though..until he is feeling better from no alcohol. We have been married for 37 years...and my father died from non-alcoholic related liver disease. Saw what my mother went through, and now it seems I am going through it too. My sister told me about this Healing Well Support website, and decided to see what it was all about. Will be nice to talk to people who have the same things in common that I do.
Posted 1/19/2015 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome CinLou,

I have no stories to tell except that Healing Well is a very supportive site. I wish your husband and you the best, and you'll find a lot of support on here. I'm on the anxiety board, and they've helped me so the best of luck to you and your husband. yeah
Posted 1/19/2015 1:10 PM (GMT 0)
CinLou, Sorry you are going through this ordeal. You seem to already have a good education on liver disease so i'll spare you the don'ts and do's. What transpired to make him think it was o.k to start drinking. Chances are they will want him to do the whole sobriety thing from scratch now.

Waiting to feel better before he goes to the doctor............ Well, Most people don't go to the doctor when the feel better. I know you can't make him do anything but did you point out how ridiculous that sounded. Time is not on his side and if he truly wants to live he better quit screwing around with his health.

Ziff
Posted 1/19/2015 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
Sooner you get him in, the sooner you can start documenting sobriety. That will be the most important thing that he can do. Get labs started before it is too late. I watched my wife almost bleed out too many times.
Posted 1/20/2015 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your thoughts on this for me....yes...we have a phone call in to the liver center and are waiting to hear back from them...hopefully first thing in the morning we will get the call..if not..will probalby head to the ER....as for the drinking...I think he honestly thought nothing like this was going to happen. Denial I would call it...
Thank you!!
Posted 1/21/2015 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
CL114,

Mike was a mess...Hep C, Alcholic Liver Disease, all the symptoms and he wouldn't do anything. They told him that wiht the booze, he would not survive. He didn't hear. Then he had an episode like Ziff...really bad, hospitalization, etc. And we toddled off to the transplant center. That DOC was really clear...put your affairs in order, Mike, you won't see Christmas!!!!! Like that, hand on his knee...then added...unless you quit drinking...completely. And that did it. Mike felt so sick and he didn't WANT to die after all.

He had to do 6 months sobriety with AA and weekly ethanol draws and LIVE. That was the tricky part as his MELD score already exceeded the centers MELD score, the could have put him in hospital that very day and waited for the next donor liver. But NO....UNOS is really really serious about the 6 months sobriety.

He was transplanted in 2011 and is doing well...oh, with lots of glitches. Maybe I already posted this on your thread.

OH, and I think he should be seeing a Hep doc, not a GI doc.

Best,

Mama Lama
Posted 1/21/2015 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the post...his Hep C is gone...it is his liver...he has been whammied big time....was on pain medicine with tylenol in it..which if you drink, it damages your liver...then he had the Hep C....then pancreatitis, which was not liver related, but who knows...anyway, he has doctors appt tomorrow morning with his PCP...and on Friday with the Liver Center Doctor who has been seeing him for 4 years. Hopefully they can find out what is going on...
but him thinking that alcohol wasn't going to hurt him was his mistake...now he is probably going to have to do meetings and other things to even get put on the transplant list.

Thank you!!
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