Hello Everyone
I'm new to this so bear with me. I'm still trying to figure this out. I was searching for something else and came across healingwell.com, seemed to be a very supportive site with chronic health conditions. Glad I stumbled upon it. Here's my story: My husband who is 41 years old has been diagnosed with end stage liver disease due to alcohol abuse. Docs say he may also have alcoholic hepititis, they don't say for sure though. He's been sick since about
Summer of 2005 when I noticed he was just not himself, losing weight, always tired, looking kind of yellowish at times. I literally drug him to the doctor in October where they did say he had liver disease but I don't believe they really realized just how bad of shape he really was. He collapsed on December 26, 2005 a devastating evening I will never forget. I almost lost the love of my life. He was rushed to the hospital and immediatley placed in ICU. He vomited about
4 pints of blood. He almost died from losing so much blood. He had to undergo several blood transfusions and medical procedures such as EGD's. He swelled up so bad he wasn't even himself, was confused, jaundicy and couldn't evern do anything for himself. It was the most emotional time I have ever gone through. He was touch and go for about
4-5 days. I prayed so hard to give him one more chance. Remarkably he bounced back after staying in the hospital about
12 days and a very slow recovery at home. Since that hospital stay, he has been in and out two more times. Just recently about
3 weeks ago, he was in about
10 days in ICU for bleeding. He has esophageal and stomach varacies, encelopathy, ascites. The docs in our home town basically gave him no hope and said his only options were a TIPS procedure and liver transplant. They said his life expectancy is not much longer because of his condition. He takes lasix, enulose, aldactone, propranonol and other medication to help with his condition. He also has high hyperportal tension going on when he gets hospitalized for bleeding. We finally went to to other docs out of our hometown with this last hospitalization when is the large facility we have in New Mexico. There is where he was to undergo a TIPS procedure. I understand there can be several complications with that procedure. Has anyone actually undergone that procedure and if so, what was your outcome? What were your complications? How are you currently doing and dealing with it? His GI docs stopped that procedure and said he was not a candidate to undergo it at that time. Only if his bleeding cannot be controlled. At this time, today, he is doing really well. His ammonia levels are down to 20 when they have been sky rocketed in the past 2-3 months, he has been watching is sodium and protein intake, he is scheduled for a EGD banding procedure the 1st friday in April and his mental and physical state seem to be doing better. The docs that he was dealing with gave him far much hope and lifted his spirits as well as mine. He has good and bad days but that to be expected. With so much of this going on with so many people, what are your thoughts? What has been the outcome? From what I've seen, he does really well for a while and then just seems like out of the blue he has some sort of relapse and goes back to square one. Do you guys experience this? Believe me, I've had to learn so much medical terminology real fast and what's happening with my husband. I'm the only one working because he is unable to work, where I work, I'm considered to have high income (if you can consider $47k a lot for a 4 person household) so I cannot qualify for any assistance at all whatsoever. He has put in for his social security but that's even taking a long time, we have no savings, trying to hang onto what we have. It's a very stressful time for me trying to manage it all. Does anyone out there have any ideas? I would great appreciate any input, advice, ideas, etc. Signed....Trying to get through it all
