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Hep c, chronic cirrhosis of liver, chronic venous insuffciency
My husband was diagnosed with Hep C & chronic cirrhosis of liver 14 yrs ago at the age of 41. He is now 55 so with his Gastro Dr, Athoritis Dr and Pain Management Dr he has managed taking care of himself. He mostly stay at home and loves to read and watch movies, I usually drive for him to Dr appt and his Gastro Dr said 6 months ago his MELD score was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 15. About 12 years ago his legs began to turn dark red and he was diagnosed with venous insuffciency. Now 12 years later his legs look like cobble stone and blood begans to puddle and make bumps that burst & leave holes. Cellulitis occurs quite frequently and it starts with chills and fever and headache. He keeps antibiotics on hand and takes lasix to reduce fluids and his pain meds and it usually goes away in a few days. I fear contacting MRSA more than Hep C just residing in the same house. He was a nurse and is much aware of and careful not to let anyone come in contact with his blood or fluids. We have no physical contact. Should I be more concerned about my contacting MRSA?
Thanks coeric for the inf on the legs. If you discover anything that works on your legs let me know. I fear his legs are more life threathing than his cirrhosis.. Keflex always on hand when he has episodes of chills & fever have kept us out of the emergency room. We have been to an infectious disease Dr ,the pick and the the strong antiobiotic I V did not help as much as using the keflex and lasix to get the fluid off.
Hi kookie,
I noticed the edema in my lower legs shortly after beginning triple therapy with incivek. the clinicians told me it was a result of cirrhosis. and had nothing to do with therapy. yea, right.
The hepatologist put me on Keflex, an oral antibiotic. The dermatologist said i should continue to use clobetasol, a steroid cream, around the areas that are infected and apply vasoline to the infected area and cover with telpha pads. Perhaps the most help came from high-grade manuka honey that i apply to the area. at night i cover the areas with telpha pads that has honey spread on them. there are studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of manuka honey on MRSA in vitro. if i am able to clear the virus i probably should make an appointment with a doc that can treat the insufficiency.
your husband's condition and mine may be completely different. 31 years ago i experienced a liver fracture as result of a traumatic injury. The EMTs stuffed me in MAST (military anti shock trousers), and i was strapped to a spine board. I wonder if some of my venous insufficiency may be do to that event. being tightly strapped to a piece of plywood for a couple of hours may have damage the circulation in my legs. i believe that i had a pre-existing insufficiency and when i started the antivirals the inflammation from the drugs made the insufficiency much worse. which lead to the infection.
anyway, skin maintenance has been an ongoing effort the past 42 weeks.
blessings.
eric
ps i agree with hector, and pray that your husband is being treated by competent doctors.
I noticed the edema in my lower legs shortly after beginning triple therapy with incivek. the clinicians told me it was a result of cirrhosis. and had nothing to do with therapy. yea, right.
The hepatologist put me on Keflex, an oral antibiotic. The dermatologist said i should continue to use clobetasol, a steroid cream, around the areas that are infected and apply vasoline to the infected area and cover with telpha pads. Perhaps the most help came from high-grade manuka honey that i apply to the area. at night i cover the areas with telpha pads that has honey spread on them. there are studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of manuka honey on MRSA in vitro. if i am able to clear the virus i probably should make an appointment with a doc that can treat the insufficiency.
your husband's condition and mine may be completely different. 31 years ago i experienced a liver fracture as result of a traumatic injury. The EMTs stuffed me in MAST (military anti shock trousers), and i was strapped to a spine board. I wonder if some of my venous insufficiency may be do to that event. being tightly strapped to a piece of plywood for a couple of hours may have damage the circulation in my legs. i believe that i had a pre-existing insufficiency and when i started the antivirals the inflammation from the drugs made the insufficiency much worse. which lead to the infection.
anyway, skin maintenance has been an ongoing effort the past 42 weeks.
blessings.
eric
ps i agree with hector, and pray that your husband is being treated by competent doctors.
How long has your legs been affected. His legs have been this way for about 12 years. The purple color seems to be going up higher on his legs. It is above his knees now. Just what type of treatment of you getting for your legs?
Hi welcome.
According to your post your husband and many conditions and illnesses. Many unrelated to his hepatitis C and his advanced liver disease. I can not comment of his health issues other than the ones related to his hepatitis C and liver disease.
In a sentence...I am afraid your husband is not receiving proper medical care for his hepatitis C and liver disease.
This community is for people affected by hepatitis C and its resulting liver disease issues. Many people here have or are treating their hepatitis C and being cured. I wonder if in the last 14 years that your husband has had hepatitis C, has he treated his hepatitis C? Are you aware that for the most common form of hepatitis C in the US the cure rate can be up to about 80%? Having cirrhosis makes his chances less, but he still has the best odds of being cured ever.
If he doesn’t cure his hepatitis C his liver will continue to fail and he will become more and more disabled and will develop life-threatening complications of cirrhosis. At that time his only chance of survival will be a liver transplant.
Are you aware that after the age of 50 his liver disease is now progressing faster than when he was younger and that he has the stage 4 liver disease?
Any person with cirrhosis even a mild case such as he has, should be under the care of a hepatologist at a transplant center along with a local gastroenterologist who can perform routine tests and monitoring of a cirrhotics health on a regular basis. Are you aware that your husband's hepatitis C and cirrhosis makes him prone to liver cancer the more years he has cirrhosis. Liver cancer is a terminal illness in which the only cure is a liver transplant? All patients with cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C need to have a abdomen scan every 6 months to monitor for cancer. If the cancer is caught early while still small it can be managed. If a patients waits until they feel ill from the cancer in most cases they will only live for a few months at that point. By not being seen at a transplant center your husband is risking his life.
Also a gastroenterology is not a specialist in liver disease and is not qualified to manage a patient with a possibly fatal illness such as cirrhosis of the liver and all of its complications.
A MELD score of 10 is a mild case of cirrhosis. Most patients with MELD scores of 10 able to live neat normal lives and many continue to work. The MELD score scale is from 6 to 40. It describes the amount of time a person has to live before death occurs. 40 being when a person only has a short time to live. The MELD score is used to decide who are the sickest patients on the waiting list for a donor liver. Perhaps his other health issues impact his ability to lead an active life?
The four MELD levels are:
greater than or equal to 25
24-19
18-11
less than or equal to 10
Cellulitis and MRSA (A staph skin infection is a red, swollen, and painful area on the skin. Pus or other fluids may drain from this area. It may look like a boil)are both infections that should be treated properly by an infectious disease specialist. In most cases there should not be recurrent. Also for patients with cirrhosis of the liver any type of infection bacterial, viral or fungal are potentially fatal because a person with cirrhosis has a compromised immune system. As your husband disease progresses and he becomes more ill as his liver fails more over time. If he continues to have Cellulitus and MRSA these infections will become life-threatening. MRSA-related pneumonia and blood infections in cirrhotics with ascites are associated with high death rates. He will need to be hospitalized and put on IV antibiotics to try to manage his infections.
Hepatitis C is not a very contagious virus. If precautions are taken to prevent any blood to blood contact there is no reason to fear being infected. MRSA is a contagious infections.
So the bottom line is your husband needs to receive proper care for his cirrhosis before he becomes sicker. Patients with cirrhosis and infections have low survival rates. He needs to receive proper medical care for his cirrhosis now. To not do so is to risk his very life. Talk to his gastroenterologist and have them refer him to a liver transplant center near where you live. They will perform a full evaluation of all of his health conditions to see if he will quality for a transplant.
If you want more information about MSRA please post your questions in the “Infectious Diseases” Community.
Good luck to you both.
Hector
According to your post your husband and many conditions and illnesses. Many unrelated to his hepatitis C and his advanced liver disease. I can not comment of his health issues other than the ones related to his hepatitis C and liver disease.
In a sentence...I am afraid your husband is not receiving proper medical care for his hepatitis C and liver disease.
This community is for people affected by hepatitis C and its resulting liver disease issues. Many people here have or are treating their hepatitis C and being cured. I wonder if in the last 14 years that your husband has had hepatitis C, has he treated his hepatitis C? Are you aware that for the most common form of hepatitis C in the US the cure rate can be up to about 80%? Having cirrhosis makes his chances less, but he still has the best odds of being cured ever.
If he doesn’t cure his hepatitis C his liver will continue to fail and he will become more and more disabled and will develop life-threatening complications of cirrhosis. At that time his only chance of survival will be a liver transplant.
Are you aware that after the age of 50 his liver disease is now progressing faster than when he was younger and that he has the stage 4 liver disease?
Any person with cirrhosis even a mild case such as he has, should be under the care of a hepatologist at a transplant center along with a local gastroenterologist who can perform routine tests and monitoring of a cirrhotics health on a regular basis. Are you aware that your husband's hepatitis C and cirrhosis makes him prone to liver cancer the more years he has cirrhosis. Liver cancer is a terminal illness in which the only cure is a liver transplant? All patients with cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C need to have a abdomen scan every 6 months to monitor for cancer. If the cancer is caught early while still small it can be managed. If a patients waits until they feel ill from the cancer in most cases they will only live for a few months at that point. By not being seen at a transplant center your husband is risking his life.
Also a gastroenterology is not a specialist in liver disease and is not qualified to manage a patient with a possibly fatal illness such as cirrhosis of the liver and all of its complications.
A MELD score of 10 is a mild case of cirrhosis. Most patients with MELD scores of 10 able to live neat normal lives and many continue to work. The MELD score scale is from 6 to 40. It describes the amount of time a person has to live before death occurs. 40 being when a person only has a short time to live. The MELD score is used to decide who are the sickest patients on the waiting list for a donor liver. Perhaps his other health issues impact his ability to lead an active life?
The four MELD levels are:
greater than or equal to 25
24-19
18-11
less than or equal to 10
Cellulitis and MRSA (A staph skin infection is a red, swollen, and painful area on the skin. Pus or other fluids may drain from this area. It may look like a boil)are both infections that should be treated properly by an infectious disease specialist. In most cases there should not be recurrent. Also for patients with cirrhosis of the liver any type of infection bacterial, viral or fungal are potentially fatal because a person with cirrhosis has a compromised immune system. As your husband disease progresses and he becomes more ill as his liver fails more over time. If he continues to have Cellulitus and MRSA these infections will become life-threatening. MRSA-related pneumonia and blood infections in cirrhotics with ascites are associated with high death rates. He will need to be hospitalized and put on IV antibiotics to try to manage his infections.
Hepatitis C is not a very contagious virus. If precautions are taken to prevent any blood to blood contact there is no reason to fear being infected. MRSA is a contagious infections.
So the bottom line is your husband needs to receive proper care for his cirrhosis before he becomes sicker. Patients with cirrhosis and infections have low survival rates. He needs to receive proper medical care for his cirrhosis now. To not do so is to risk his very life. Talk to his gastroenterologist and have them refer him to a liver transplant center near where you live. They will perform a full evaluation of all of his health conditions to see if he will quality for a transplant.
If you want more information about MSRA please post your questions in the “Infectious Diseases” Community.
Good luck to you both.
Hector
sounds like your husband might have stasis dermatitis. i am at week 43 of treatment with triple therapy and my legs have turned way uuugly, and have been prescribed antibiotics to control the infection. bacteria, including MRSA usually need a wound to become established. So as long as you are careful with and treat any cuts or scrapes that damage your skin. i would not worry about transmission of a bacterial infection from you husband.
blessings
eric
blessings
eric
MELD scores do not top out at 15. My last one was 18.
Your husband nerds to be under the care of a hepatologist at a transplant center.
I don't understand your MRSA question, but I'm not very familiar with the condition. I'm not sure how your risk would be higher than the general public. Has your husband ever contracted a MRSA infection?
Your husband nerds to be under the care of a hepatologist at a transplant center.
I don't understand your MRSA question, but I'm not very familiar with the condition. I'm not sure how your risk would be higher than the general public. Has your husband ever contracted a MRSA infection?
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