85 year old aunt, End stage liver failure...

[D1on]

My auntie is now 85 years of age,
Around 4 years ago she started vomiting blood, when in hospital we were told she has non alcoholic fatty liver cirrhosis and she is dying, The way it was put to the family was as if she was dying soon and while in hospital, A few weeks went by and she got discharged from hospital, she's been on lots of medication since relating to her illness, she also has thyroid trouble, anaemia and diabetes.

Since then she's managed to get on with her life, be it with a little pain, and become more frail,
about 2 months ago she began to become very confused! we had to force entry to the home as she didn't know how to open the door, she couldn't turn the television off etc... She's also mainly been bed bound, only getting up to eat or go the toilet.

The confusion is still there, not so bad but it does come in short spells, Last week she was admitted to hospital, she's very frail but has had 6 litres of fluid drained from her stomach as it was very swollen, as is her ankles... She doesn't look very well, her hair is falling out and she's in pain but she's still okay in her self still making jokes and talking.



Went into see the doctor yesterday, she explained that after having the ascites fluid drained last week its starting to build up again so will need to be drained again before she goes home , this is an on-going thing which will need draining every so often..

She also explained that the confusion is down to the liver problem and is a well known symptom, she's done a test to come to this conclusion.

She's also said she's in end stage liver cirrhosis, and she's looking at long months , short years to live.

The doctor is a liver specialist and she reckons she has around 6-12 months as this illness will only get worse...

What can I expect? Whats a rough life expectancy of her? Does the Doctors estimate sound right?...

[Advocate1955]

These final stages of ESLD are so terrible.  My heart goes out to you both.  I hope they are keeping her comfortable.
Advocate1955

[D1on]

Thanks Advocate!,

Went into see her tonight and she looked terrible, didn't say one thing that made sense for the whole hour!, Black urine again, Speaking very quiet, Looks like she's going jaundice on her arms, and she was itching a lot....

[Advocate1955]

I'm sorry to hear this, and I'm sad that you both have to go through this.  Liver failure causes the body not to be able to filter toxins out of the system, and it also causes the body not to be able to properly digest the nutrients in food.  This means that while the toxins build up, you Auntie is also not able to get enough of the vital nutrients she needs in order to have energy to do things like sit up, stand up, walk, and talk.  I hope that her doctors are doing everything possible to keep her comfortable and pain free.
Advocate1955

[D1on]

After her being so good day before last when she had fluid drained...
Yesterday went in and she was terrible, Looked very ill, Couldn't speak, was barely whispering...

[hepc4jean]

You are doing a wonderful job, it is very difficult to care for someone who is slowly slipping away. The days that she is more lucid, tell stories, laugh, enjoy your time together.
I wish you and your auntie well.

[Advocate1955]

It's hard to say D1on.  Her liver is failing, and she will die of liver failure, but it's hard to say how many days or weeks or months she will live and how many times she will need to have fluid drained or other symptoms treated.  I hope she is comfortable and not in pain.  Randy, Hector, or Nan, can you answer D1on's question a bit better than I can?
Advocate1955