Mother was just advised that she has end stage liver cirrhosis

[penny0126]

My sweet mother will only be 63 this june and we just found out she has cirrhosis. She does not drink. I don't understand and I am scared that she will die from this.

[mikesimon]

I didn't think about insurance and I apologize for assuming that your Mom had insurance. That does make things more difficult.
Nevertheless, your Mother is seriously ill and she should be under the care of a hepatologist. I hope that can be arranged soon.

[penny0126]

Thank you so much for the information, this has been very hard due to no insurance, she went into the hospital and the dr (gastro) said she had ascites and they took the fluid off with a needle from her belly she lost about 30 pounds after the fluid was removed. Trying to get her signed up for tncare. They did a biopsy last week but they have not called with the results. It is just so much to take in over the last couple of weeks.

[mikesimon]

Cirrhosis is a condition in which the liver becomes scarred due to chronic inflammation. It can be the result of many disorders such as alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis, autoimmune disorders and drug toxicity etc.

I think the first step is to determine what is your Mother's underlying disease that has caused her cirrhosis. Often a doctor will order a viral hepatitis panel to rule out Hepatitis A B C etc. If viral hepatitis is ruled out other tests may be ordered to determine her disease.

A diagnosis of cirrhosis is not an automatic death sentence. There is compensated cirrhosis in which the liver is still performing its basic functions and there is decompensated cirrhosis in which some liver function(s) is impaired. Patients with compensated cirrhosis can live quite a long time and in some cases with proper treatment their condition can improve. And there is always the potential option of a liver transplant if her disease has progressed too far. I think it is important to stay as optimistic and as aggressive as the situation allows.

I don't know what type of doctor diagnosed your Mother but when liver disease is suspected it is critical to be under the care of a liver specialist - a hepatologist. Hepatologists are not always available in small communities but they are usually associated with larger teaching hospitals and universities. If your Mother is not already under the care of a hepatologist I have provided a link to 6 transplant hepatologists in the Covington TN area.

http://npidb.org/doctors/allopathic_osteopathic_physicians/transplant_hepatology_207rt0003x/tn/covington/38019/#doctors

While your right to be concerned you should try hard not to panic or spiral into despair. and just take it one step at a time. If you have any more questions please post them here. There are a lot of people here who know a lot more than I do and they are always eager to help.

Good luck Penny.

Mike