48 Looks Real
48 Looks Real
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My mom who is 48 yrs old came home from the Dr yesterday and said she is in stage4 of cirrosis of her liver.?
she said she wont live to be 55. what should we expect as symtoms to dying from cirrosis? they are talking liver transplant. but what should we look for in her? will she have pain? or wil she just fall over and die un-announced? please, only real answers..dont try to scare me..I am already scared!
First of all, calm down. It doesn't have to be the end of the world. They are talking liver transplant which is really good for her. Forget about these people that tell you that cirrhosis is extremely painful. I had it and experienced very little pain, really no pain other than getting stuck with needles a lot for tests. It can be painful when lots of fluid develops in the abdomen, but a paracentesis (being drained of the fluid) will help her and there are meds that can help keep that fluid under control. I only had to be drained one time when I was first diagnosed, and after that my meds worked until I got my transplant. There is also a procedure called TIPS that can be done to help keep that fluid to a minimum until transplant.
Bleeding internally is a risk with cirrhosis, but again, there is something she can do to greatly lower that risk. She will need to get routine endoscopies done so they can band unwanted blood vessels that form with cirrhosis. It's a simple procedure that I had done quite a number of times. Banding gets rid of those unwanted vessels which lowers the risk of bleeding. I never had any bleeding, but had 9 bandings done.
There are other meds that will help her along the way. Cirrhosis is usually a very slow progressive disease. It depends somewhat on what has caused her disease as to how fast it progresses. Since she is in stage 4, she will need a transplant. She is still young and hopefully will be a good candidate to get one. She will need to go for an evaluation which is just a lot of tests and talking with some people such as a psychiatrist and social worker. Once that is all done, her case will go before a board of people (mostly doctors) and they will determine whether or not she can be listed to receive a liver transplant.
If she gets listed, then the waiting game begins. She will be given a MELD score which is determined by 3 lab tests (INR, biliruben, and creatnine). The higher the MELD score, the higher you are on the list for a transplant. MELD scores go from 6-40 with 40 being the sickest. I received my transplant when my MELD was 15. Two things need to match from a donor. One is blood type. The other is body size. A very large man could not donate to a small petite woman because his liver would be too large.
Don't be afraid and tell your mother not to be afraid. It won't be easy for your mother and your family to go through all this, but many people have done it and there are many success stories out there from people just like myself who had a transplant and are doing great today. Once established with a transplant team, your mom must do everything they tell her to do in order to get well again. Compliance with everything is most important.
Good luck sweetie. If you and your mom have any questions, just email me and I will help you if I can.