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ongoing ascites

Hi, my wife has had ascites (fluid build-up in the belly) for 8 mos. with the fluid building up to about 3 gals. in about 2 to 3 weeks.  Gets drained and the process starts all over again.  Hep c liver damage.  Liquid restriction @ 1 liter per day. Gall stones also. In need of a liver transplant but in the meantime looking for a way to slow the fluid build-up..  Any ideas or have any of you been through this..  Any info. would be appreciated..  Thanks in advance         el_guapo  aka sam
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Avatar universal
I share your frustration with Patriot/Patriot2, especially when she gives advice that could clearly result in serious harm. I understand she will not be posting anymore as Patriot2. Time will tell if she has yet another email address with which to post. If, as I suspect, she is employed by Hulda Clark's organization to lead people to Clark's Web Sites in an effort to boost the sale of Clark's books and "products", then she probably has an unlimited number of email addresses from which to post.

I will keep both your husband and El Guapo's wife in my thoughts and hope that they both get a donor soon. What trying times you are both going through. Stay strong and hopeful.

Best personal regards,
Chicken Soup
Helpful - 0
28293 tn?1213136950
I don't have any personal experience with the center in Omaha, but it looks like a good program. If you haven't seen it yet, their main transplant page is at:
http://www.unmc.edu/Lied/

Their liver transplant program is at:

http://www.unmc.edu/Lied/liver/index.html

(lots of links there, to more info)

To get onto their liver transplant waiting list, your wife is going to have to pass their "evaluation".
An "Evaluation" is a series of medical tests and interviews, to see if she's a good candidate for a transplant.

(We go to Baylor Houston, and our evaluation was three days of tests and interviews. It is simpler than it sounds----don't let it intimidate you.)

Generally----it's a very thorough physical examination, which will give you a good idea of exactly how your wife is doing.
The interviews are to see what type of attitude that you have, (whether she'll follow their instructions or not.....and to see if you are supportive of her or not.)
((((My advice would be to go in there with the attitude of "We want her to get well."-----and you'll do fine.)))

Good Luck to you!

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Avatar universal
Thanks to you all for the input and no I didn't know the transplant centers were so omnipotent although I kinda got that impression from talking to a couple of folks @ the center..

My wife is scheduled to go to Omaha for testing @ the end of this mo., could this be a bad thing??  Has anyone heard anything about the center in Omaha?

                                    Thanks again
                                        Sam
Helpful - 0
28293 tn?1213136950
Chicken Soup--------
I'm trying to keep my cool with 'patriot' but it's pretty hard.
My husband has hepatitis c, end stage cirrhosis (along with ascites and the whole bit). He's on the transplant list and we see the hepatologist once a month.
You may already know this---but when a person is on the liver transplant waiting list, they have to take extra good care of themselves, along with getting AN APPROVAL for any substances they want to ingest (whether over-the-counter meds, vitamins, herbals, etc.), and they undergo blood tests on a regular basis.
If a person doesn't follow those rules (get an approval) they can actually be booted off the list.

Ascites is a serious "complication" of cirrhosis. Patients are usually told to reduce sodium, take diuretics, and monitor their weight daily (call the doctor when there's a weight gain).
Later---if ascites gets refractory (doesn't respond to diuretics and a low salt diet)---they can have paracentesis. (Or sometimes a TIPS (shunt).
The goal is to keep the ascites under control as long as possible (until transplant.)
Uncontrolled ascites leads to more complications (SBP being the most life-threatening and common one).

Okay, so then you have someone like patriot come along and say that ascites is natural, and a healing process......
This strikes me as really dangerous.
Not just someone harmlessly giving bad advice.......something alot more sinister than that.
Ascites is not a healing process----it's a symptom of liver failure.

And if a person is wanting a liver transplant-----they better get anything they do approved FIRST by their transplant center.

(I'm hoping that El Guapo knows all of this already.)

What if a person were to take patriot's advice---think their ascites was 'natural', not take it seriously, waste some time doing who-knows-what (maybe even do further damage)-----and then when it's time for a transplant, get booted off the list (for doing "flushes" or whatever else patriot comes up with.)

I think Patriot ought to be ashamed of this latest post....but I know from talking to her in the past, she's not.

Knowing nothing about a medical condition, has never stopped her from posting bad advice for it.

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Avatar universal
Hi Sam:

Only your wife, with your support, can make the difficult decisions regarding the medical treatment you choose. You both must have been through the emotional wringer many times. I would recommend, however, that before you accept some of the recommendations about miraculous cures and therapies, you research the sites posted that are supposed to lend credibility to those miraculous claims. YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO VISIT THE SITE QUACKWATCH.COM and use its search engine to investigate some of the unsavory characters that are passed off as "medical experts". Often, these are unscrupulous characters whose ultimate goal is to profit from the sale of their books and "products" offered on their Internet sites, without regard to the safety of those they target for sales.

I have reseached Curezone, Mercola and Stoll, among others, recommended to you in a previous posting. They are generally proponents of cancer and Aid cures (among other catastrophic diseases) with such remedies as "salt cures", "lemonade diets", "water diets", "juice fasting", "parasite cleanses" "liver and kidney flushes", "bowel cleases", and "enemas", among others. Many of these sites and their "cures" can be traced back to Hulda Clark, whose has tried to pass herself off as a DR (she is no MD), is the subject of several wrongful death suits, and recently fled to Mexico.

As a layman, I can offer you no miraculous cures (I wish I could). I would urge you, however, to research claims that seem too good to be true (they usually are) so that you can make an informed judgement should you be interested in seeking "alternative treatments". Many of these "treatment' represent a retreat to 17th century medicine, and can in fact do great harm in some cases.

I wish you and your wife the best of luck on your journey; my thoughts will be with you.

Best regards,
Cicken Soup
Helpful - 0
28293 tn?1213136950
A low sodium diet is very important.
Sodium (salt) makes ascites much worse.
If your wife isn't on a low sodium diet yet.....put her on one.

Here's a couple of medical articles about Ascites (treatment) that you may want to look at:

http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7283/416

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/20d57a.htm

P.S.- What Patriot wrote to you above is just plain WRONG.
Ascites (fluid build up in the abdomen) is not 'a healing process', and not 'totally natural'.

Ascites happens as a result of portal hypertension and low Albumin levels.





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