Well..

Went to hep doctor, said recovery has been nothing short of amazing, he said to go from mid 30s total bilirubin down to even 3.6 which is still high in just over 2 months is almost unheard of. He said it will take a few more months to clear the rest but I am on a fast recovery.

Did a quick phsyical check, no signs of jaundice. No swelling. He had a big grin on his face, he told me I hate to say "I told you so to other doctors, because many are alot smarter than I am" but no one else believed him that I had a bile duct obstruction that could of caused this severe of damage and now that it has the stents to see this improvement is awesome.

I can take NSAID and Tylenol at limited dosages now, no concerns about bleeding or other risks. Enzymes are normal again, just bili is high. INR is slightly elevated, but improved. Sitting at 1.7 now, he said that will take time. He would like it at 1.5 which is the high range of normal for their lab. He went over the CT and MRI, said that there was alot of fibrosis and that could turn around heal itself, but the cirrhosis will not. I go back in 3 months for more blood work and to start working on timelines for surgery. I knew most of what we talked about, but it is definately a good feeling having a plan.

What was great, the 1st doctor who would not believe that I did not drink was there. He walked by me without saying a thing, I said "hi" with a slight smirk possibly.

At first I was told the whipple surgery because they thought the cyst was on the pancreas, luckily after more images were taken I was told no. It a cyst removal, basically resecting my bile duct and removing the portion that the cyst is attached to.


I have a type 3 choledochal cyst I believe. They can go in laproscopically and remove it, however I will be in the hospital for 5 to 6 days after so they can make sure there is no bile duct issues after. I guess for pain they will put a spinal block in for the first 72 hours.



Anyways, either way the stents are doing their job. I go in next Tuesday to have them swapped out again.

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 4/8/2013 12:27:58 PM (GMT-6)

I would love to have it now to get the dang thing out, it can turn into cancer. But they said my liver was in the equivalent of a very bad car accident and they want to give it plenty of time to recover. If everything goes good, maybe next fall. It will be a combination of 2 hep doctors, a liver surgeon and my biliary specialist making the decision of when it will happen. It sounds like they are thinking maybe next fall or early winter.

Excuse my typos, I am working and taking little breaks to look at sports and post here.

The cyst is constricting and closing my bile duct, but they will not remove it yet because they want my liver to heal more. So the only way for my bile to flow is to have the stents placed where the cyst is located. That is the only thing keeping me pretty much alive right now. If I had gone much longer without treatment I would of died from sepsis.

Bigger isn't always better. Sounds like you have a great doc.

Woo hoo. We celebrate all the good news we can get here,

Mae,

That qoute in your signature is awesome.

Syxx

Had stents replaced. Before I went in he said surgery this summer. about an hour after my procedure he came in and said the cyst is gone. Now he is confused. Said liver looked good and so did bloodwork but he needs to get the team working on my case together to figure out what is going on.

New stents put in to continue to protect duct since things improved. I am so confused.

He did say not to worry about liver, this bile duct related and could be a section that is inflammed. He said this could be positive as possibly no surgery.

Threat news! Carol