Liver

[mack50]

i lost my wife of 30 yrs recently to liver failure but with some unanswered questions,i was told she had cirrhosis and her liver was very large but the test they were running only came back negative except for the white blood count was very high,has anyone experienced this type of thing?

[HectorSF]

I am so very sorry about the lose of your wife. That must be extremely difficult. I hope you can find peace and healing.

Mike offered excellent advice. That only thing i would add is that it sounds like you have pieces of the story but not the full story. f it will help you with your grieving process you may want to want to make an appointment to see her treating doctor and she/he can explain what happened to you. Or I believe as the spouse, you should have access to her medical records. The records will show her diagnosis and the cause of her passing. If you decide to get more medical information I hope there is nothing that you might find out that would be upsetting to you. So please think about exactly what you need to know.

I wish you healing.
Hector

[mikesimon]

I'm sorry to hear about your wife. You have my condolences.

Please keep in mind that the vast majority of people who contribute here are not physicians. Most are patients some of whom have gained some knowledge as a result of their disease(s).

I will make a couple of observations.

Generally with advanced cirrhosis the liver is not "very enlarged". Cirrhosis basically means that the liver is scarred and when there is a lot of scarring the liver shrinks and becomes hard. When the liver swells and becomes enlarged it is due to inflammation of the liver tissue and that happens before the liver becomes predominantly scar tissue. So when you have advanced cirrhosis the liver is generally not enlarged but smaller and harder.

Cirrhosis is the result of a disease process. Cirrhosis can result from many conditions such as alcohol abuse, dug toxicity, viral hepatitis and auto-immune disorders. Do you know what disease your wife had?

" A high white blood cell count usually indicates:

    An increased production of white blood cells to fight an infection
    A reaction to a drug that increases white blood cell production
    A disease of bone marrow, causing abnormally high production of white blood cells
    An immune system disorder that increases white blood cell production"

From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-white-blood-cell-count/MY00161/DSECTION=causes

I wish I could be more help to you.

Mike