Cirrhosis of the Liver

A lot of people are not familiar with cirrhosis of the liver. Many people believe that it is caused by alcohol consumption in disproportionate amounts. That is one way, but there are many other ways as well. Hepatitis is one of the fastest growing causes of Cirrhosis, and there is also damage due to medication overdose, diabetes, and other poisons. The biggest problem is that many people do not catch the early symptoms of liver failure or cirrhosis until the precarious situation is critical. This is where major damage has been done to the liver. There are other significant issues that will occur.

You may start out with no symptoms at all, but as cirrhosis progresses you may end up feeling tired or weak, lose your appetite, feel sick to your stomach, Irritable bowel syndrome, loss of weight, or may have the first signs of jaundice. Jaundice is an irregular yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.

As cirrhosis continues to worsen, you may eventually begin to bruise easier, have nose bleeds, start to bloat or swell in the abdomen "called ascites" or the legs "called edema" as well as finding that alcohol and other medications work faster or stronger. The body's waste materials may build up in the blood and brain which can occasionally create confusion or forgetfulness. One of the better known waste products is ammonia from protein, and bilirubin which is dead red blood cells. A healthy liver would get rid of these, where a sick liver will not. The blood pressure may actually start to gradually increase where it enters the liver, which is called portal hypertension. You may further notice red spider like blotches, which are called varices and are created by enlarged veins. Some of these may end up in the esophagus, and stomach. The kidneys may at some point start performing improperly and may even fail. You may also get severe cases of itching and gallstones.

To provide you a personal image of my condition, I have each and every one of the above conditions, plus more. Some of the other conditions that are found in later stages are tremors, parkinsonian conditions, which are caused by excess ammonia, a swollen liver in early stages now is shrinking, the spleen will be swollen, severe muscle cramps, and breathing problems. These complex conditions all are present for me along with kidney stones, and a very irregular heart beat.

In extreme cases, which are becoming more predominant are stages of liver cancer. The percentages of these individual cases are approximately 5%. This is one condition I presently do not have. The other condition is a severe form of diabetes.

The mental anguish that you go through is quite intense. First, when I originally noticed the swelling in my legs, I thought it was due to eating, and being on my feet all the time. I have always retained a lot of salt. When it finally got to a point for me to find out more information, I was bent over in severe pain, my ankles were more than double in diameter, and I had gone from a 32 inch waist to a 38 inch waist. I was drinking 4 oz. of fluid, and was full. My left side of my abdomen always hurt a lot. I found out later it was due to a swollen spleen that was literally pushing my ribs up and out. When I walked into the hospital's emergency room, I was bent almost in two, and was barely able to walk. The nurses saw me, and viewed my actions, and within a 2 minute time span, they had me in a wheel chair, and rolling me into a room. They helped me lay on the bed, and I lay on my side curled in a ball, while shivering like I was about to turn completely into one large ice cube. The doctor came in, and asked me what was wrong. "I am in pain you idiot!!" I screamed. Well, let me inform you, that these emergency room doctors can sure take abuse, but know how to give it to you directly. I was informed after blood bottle, ok, tubes of blood were sent to be tested, and several x-rays of my abdomen, and chest, that I had severe Liver cirrhosis from all of the signs, and blood results. They needed to get the fluid out of my body. The doctor was able to push ¼ of inch into my shins, and we could see the indentation stay there. They gave me 2 different water pills, one for the legs, and the other for the more severe abdomen. The doctor told me that I was lucky that I was not on life support, and the hospital calling my next of kin. This was the first wide awakening, and the first realization that I was not invincible.

The following day, I was at my family doctor, and going over the results. It was very grim. As far as they can see I had the last stages of liver failure, and they needed to get 3 more pieces of information to confirm this. They had me going to the hospital to have a CT scan. This scan involves drinking 20 Oz of an iodine mixture, then lying on a flat bed, and having pictures taken of thin layers of my organs. This is a machine that slides forward and back, while rotating around. Just before I was slid into the scanner, they injected dye into my blood stream. This dye makes you feel very warm. After more intense x-rays and more blood, I had to go to a larger hospital to have a liver biopsy.

During this biopsy, I had to have a tube pushed down through my main artery that goes from my neck directly to the liver. This is done by putting a series of large tubes pushed through an opening made by a very large needle. I refused to be made to "feel comfortable" for this procedure. There were 5 different tubes put through the original opening before the small tweezers actually take bites from the liver. They took three samples from me.

Before the results were back, I was sent to a Gastroenterologist. These are specialist in the internal organs of liver, kidneys, etc. Once I visited the gastroenterologist, I knew immediately my situation. I had severe cirrhosis of the liver, and they had already contacted Lahey clinic in Massachusetts, and I would be on my way within the next month to them. In the mean time, we had to decide on what medications to put me on. This will have to be writing. There are many variables and much to discuss on that issue.

I would like to finish this article talking about how I coped through the first two months of a death certificate in my name being written out, but no time or date, and no final signature placed on it. I worked for a major corporation, and still had a job. I did not want to tell my parents everything, because my dad just had two strokes, and my folks have gone through enough in the two years prior. So I first had to deal on my own, the true reality of my definite ending, and how to deal with it day to day, and not to worry my folks. I went to the computer. I found out every bit of information that I could find on liver failure, and every possible reason for liver failure, and how to stop the ongoing deterioration. When I went to the gastroenterologist the second time in 2 weeks, I took 150 pages of information. I knew about the medical reasons, the stages of, and the potential ways to stop the deterioration. I was more informed than this doctor, or anyone in his office was about cirrhosis of the liver.

I told my work of my condition, and also informed them that I would continue working, and would go to work at 7am, and stay as long as I could. Many days I would be bent over in agonizing pain, or running to the restroom. I smiled with everyone, and joked, and did everything that I could to be the best employee that this location had. That paid off, because 5 months later I was offered a promotion with a more than doubling in my pay. I took the water pills, had to urinate weekly in a large bottle to be tested, and I also took milk thistle. My way to cope was to work so hard that I had no time to think, and when I was not working, I was learning everything that I could about my medical condition. There are several groups to lean on, and I strongly recommend that you tell your friends, and relatives. You need that support structure, and you need to evaluate what is truly important. I truly hope this helps someone if no more than to know, that someone else has gone through, or is going through the same thing.