Guest guest Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Hi . I can't answer with any kind of authority but I can relate to you two people I know who lasted a number of years even after full on decompensation and kept drinking alcohol despite this. Ardis my best friend and loved one did, she was diagnosed with decompensation in November 04, had post decompensation jaundice which is usually a bad bad sign, but she lived until August of 06. My uncle was diagnosed with full on deconpensation in 06 and just recently died last month. The two year prognosis for decompensation was true for these people in my life, but I 'm sure there are many who live longer, and probably a bunch who live much less time. I'm sorry they cant operate, but I am glad they are treating his pain. He has cancer and doctors in the US are not shy to treat pain from cancer. It's non cancer pain patients who get the runaround. Love Bobby long life, old age, everything good-Apache prayer ________________________________ To: livercirrhosissupport Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 12:33:17 PM Subject: what to expect Hi, I have been unsubscribed for awhile and just signed back on. I was naively thinking maybe things would work out after all. Oh well....you know what they say about " The Nile " ! Anyhow, my husband, , has cirrhosis from Hep C (untreated) as well as colon cancer that has metasticised to his liver (inoperable because of danger of bleeding from varices as well as platelet count, as well as the number of tumors and placement).. .what a great combination! There are multiple tumors 5 that measure more than 1.5cm x 1.8 cm, one of them is 3.2 cm x 2.8 cm. They are in differenct segmants of the liver and there are multiple small places that aren't large enough to measure yet. There is involvement with one lymph node now and one met that has attached to the muscle wall of the peritoneum. If any of you are familiar with CEA levels, his last month was 1,200...more than doubling every month now...which I think is a pretty good sign of rapid tumor growth. I need to check and make sure. When he had his surgery 3 + years ago, it was normal (<3). Until recently he hasn't had many liver failure signs. No ascites, edema only once or twice 2 years ago, a week in the hopsital last year about this time of year when his encephalopathy was pretty extreme and ended up with severe excrutiating abdomenal pain, that they could not find a reason for. He has multiple varices in the peritonem and esophagus but has had no bleeding, interally or externally. To start with (3 years ago) his liver enxymes were elevated, except for the billirubin whch was normal. Now all the enxyme tests are back to normal but he is becoming more symptomatic. I understand that for some people as the disease progresses the liver pretty much says, " okay, I give up! " and stops spilling all those enxymes into the blood...not a good medical explanation I know, but makes sense in my feeble brain. Anyhow, his latest CT scan show mild acsites in one part of the peritoneum, (the first time that has ever shown up), and I noticed recently that his urine has become darker, very consistent with cirrhosis. (that reddish brown color) I noticed some confusion yesterday, and it is much more pronounced today. He has been having pain in the area of his liver for almost w week now. His doctor has changed his pain meds from Lortab to Dilaudid 2 mg every 4 hours as needed, and Darvon when the pain is more moderate. This was by my request to give him something stronger for pain. My question, which I know can't be answered with any precision, is how fast do you think this is progressing? Am I looking at months or weeks? He is coughing a lot from this bug that he caught. The rest of us had was seemed to be a pesky cold, but he was bedridden for about a week from it) he had chills, fever, etc I don't know if i twas from the virus or his disease? What is the danger of his coughing causing a blled from a varices? Any input is appreciated! C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Welcome Back , I'm sorry about your husbands illnesses. It does sound as though he is progressing, but cirrhosis is so weird, one person can swing really low and then bounce back for awhile longer. I think it is pretty hard to know for sure. My mom's urine started getting dark in the last week of her life, but since everyone is a bit different it is tough to use one person's story to evaluate your dh. I don't know if the coughing could cause the varacies to rupture. Is he taking lactulose for the encephalopahty? Praying for his comfort and peace for you, it's a tough journey you are on, but you aren't alone! Pamela > > Hi, > I have been unsubscribed for awhile and just signed back on. I was naively thinking maybe things would work out after all. > Oh well....you know what they say about " The Nile " ! > > Anyhow, my husband, , has cirrhosis from Hep C (untreated) as well as colon cancer that has metasticised to his liver (inoperable because of danger of bleeding from varices as well as platelet count, as well as the number of tumors and placement)...what a great combination! There are multiple tumors 5 that measure more than 1.5cm x 1.8 cm, one of them is 3.2 cm x 2.8 cm. They are in differenct segmants of the liver and there are multiple small places that aren't large enough to measure yet. There is involvement with one lymph node now and one met that has attached to the muscle wall of the peritoneum. > > If any of you are familiar with CEA levels, his last month was 1,200...more than doubling every month now...which I think is a pretty good sign of rapid tumor growth. I need to check and make sure. When he had his surgery 3 + years ago, it was normal (<3). > > Until recently he hasn't had many liver failure signs. No ascites, edema only once or twice 2 years ago, a week in the hopsital last year about this time of year when his encephalopathy was pretty extreme and ended up with severe excrutiating abdomenal pain, that they could not find a reason for. > > He has multiple varices in the peritonem and esophagus but has had no bleeding, interally or externally. > > To start with (3 years ago) his liver enxymes were elevated, except for the billirubin whch was normal. Now all the enxyme tests are back to normal but he is becoming more symptomatic. I understand that for some people as the disease progresses the liver pretty much says, " okay, I give up! " and stops spilling all those enxymes into the blood...not a good medical explanation I know, but makes sense in my feeble brain. > > Anyhow, his latest CT scan show mild acsites in one part of the peritoneum, (the first time that has ever shown up), and I noticed recently that his urine has become darker, very consistent with cirrhosis. (that reddish brown color) > > I noticed some confusion yesterday, and it is much more pronounced today. > > He has been having pain in the area of his liver for almost w week now. His doctor has changed his pain meds from Lortab to Dilaudid 2 mg every 4 hours as needed, and Darvon when the pain is more moderate. This was by my request to give him something stronger for pain. > > My question, which I know can't be answered with any precision, is how fast do you think this is progressing? > > Am I looking at months or weeks? > > He is coughing a lot from this bug that he caught. The rest of us had was seemed to be a pesky cold, but he was bedridden for about a week from it) he had chills, fever, etc > > I don't know if i twas from the virus or his disease? > > What is the danger of his coughing causing a blled from a varices? > > Any input is appreciated! > C > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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