End stage stories

[MJIthewriter]

I'm bringing this topic back because it was requested. Anyways, if you have a story to share please feel free to post it here. I'm working on the med health page and I can add your story to it.

[Suzyq0826]

I totally agree with you, but how do you get a grown man to do something he absolutely refuses to do? He's a smart man, but prefers to bury his head in the sand on his own health issues.

If there was something wrong with me, or one of our children he'd be the first one insisting on a doctor visit.

I think his fear is not only the treatment that he might require, but that it would definitely involve giving up alcohol, and that is not something he is prepared to do.

[Jacker]

It's best not to wait until you're incapacitatingly ill - As a general rule, once your liver begins giving you severe symptoms, you are already in big trouble

[Suzyq0826]

I've never really looked at my husband's eyes other than just looking in his eyes when we're talking or something, never really looked "at" his eyes. We went out for dinner last night and from across the table I was looking at the whites of his eyes...they are not bright white, there is a yellow cast to them that I hadn't noticed before. Now I have to wonder, just how yellow is yellow? How bad is it and how much worse will it get?Then I started to look at his skin, it's difficult to tell if there's a yellow tint because we've been out in the sun lately.
I'll never get him to the doctor, he did the one physical for me a few years ago and won't ever go again unless he feels seriously ill, and it would have to be incapacitatingly ill at that.
We did both sign releases to access each other's medical information, I think what I will do is talk to my doctor at my next appt coming up in the next few weeks and discuss this with him and find out just how bad his initial blood work showed his liver enzymes to be. Then maybe we can sit down and talk and come up with a plan.

[jml1986]

The so called beer belly can be a sign of liver disease, but at first it starts out as weight gain by drinking too much. However if they continue to drink, it will most likely will indicate liver disease. As Suzyq0826 stated they skin and eyes will start turning yellow when the liver stops functioning as it should.

Sadly it is hard to convince an alcoholic that he needs to see a doctor. However, you can talk to your husbands doctor and let him know that you would like his levels checked when he goes in for something else. Doctors are real good about getting bloodwork done without to much explaination. Us women are usually the ones to schedule the appointments anyway, so it is pretty easy to have it slipped in.

Good luck

[Tink70]

"Swollen stomach" can be a sign of liver disease.  The liver becomes inflammed and bloated and pushes the stomach and then the stomach becomes swollen.  Does your husband have a yellowish color to him?  Are the whites of his eyes kinda yellow or really yellow?  That is not a good thing if they are and he needs medical attention.
Luck to Ya'

[Suzyq0826]

Wow....that had to have been horrible and it just scares me even more about what my husband is going to eventually go through.
Question for anyone that might know...the really swollen stomach...my husband looks as if he's about to give birth, yet is fairly thin overall. Is this the commonly referred to "beer belly" that people laugh about as men get older, or a sign of something much more serious?
I only wish I could find a way to convince him to get medical treatment now while he still can.