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Fearing liver failure!

My mother-in-law developed a serious liver problem that her current doctors cannot diagnose. She was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma (salivary gland) 3 years ago, followed by surgical removal, chemo and radiation therapy. During very lengthy radiation therapy, developed what was later diagnosed as bone marrow failure. Although subsequent follow up showed no return of lymphoma, her counts for red, white and platelets stayed in very low ranges.  She
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Avatar universal
hi ,have you ever had a upper scope done?and yes it would not hurt to have a ultrasound done on your liver just to rule it out if your doctor does not seem to take your health concerns seriously then a second opion(gastro/specialest) would be in order ,i always stress to everyone not to  let your current doctor recomend the doctor for your second opion ,make sure you pick a doctor yourself which is not related to your present doctor in any way .this way you know his diagnoses is not influenced in any way .you may have  a ulcerated stomach if anti acids seem to ease the pain .but there is no way of knowing until a upperscope is  done there is also many other more serious digestive  disorder that anti acids can seem to temporaraly relieve the pain.i believe sense the anti acids seem to give you some relief that with out doubt the upper scope is needed to rule out more serious digestive probs .the type of doctor you should seek for the test, and a good digestive work up would be a gastro/specialest regular doctors can only do so much because they are not a specialest in the digestive field .and also you must keep in mind that some doctors get kick backs from the insurance co .for not refering patients to specialest ,test ,surgery etc.so it is very important for the person to be active in the medical treatment they receive and you must be pushy at times and insist that you get certain test and care.you know when something is wrong with  your body .you just need to push for the test and care you need.i hopethis has been of some help to you ,if you have any more questions that i may be able to help you with  please fill free to ask  .god bless,wishing you well
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Avatar universal
I to am unable to afford $15 for consultation.  But I have found some value in reading about others having the same problems and how they dealt with them.  Funny that he is answering questions in the urology forum.  That's funny, cause my symptoms that I am having are getting worse after having some kidney stones removed.  I must also mention that I was taking acetomedophine for the pain.  I was on it for about 4 months until they could take care of the kidney stones.  I hope I didn't harm my liver.  

I have pain in my upper right side almost like a gall bladder attack, but I had my gall bladder removed Sept 1999.  It sometimes burns like my side is on fire.  I went to the doctor and he said that it seemed to be a possibility of trapped gas.  He prescribed some medicine for the "gas" problem but the side effects of the medicine seemed to be worse than the disease.  It had the possibility of stopping you from sweating, yikes!.  Anyway, I got some of the gas medication from the supermarket and it seemed to do the job just as good.  I do get some relief after taking the gas medicine, but then the pain returns.  It is strange however, that I can get some relief from drinking a milkshake.  It seems to coat my stomach, but not long after the pain comes back.  I read in one of the older posted forums of how people had pain in the right side after their GB removal.  One mentioned that he had relief by taking pepcid which I think may go along with what I experience, but the persitant pain makes me feel like my liver is sick.  

Does anyone have any of these symptoms, and if so how do you releive the pain.  Should I ask for a liver screening?  I have thought that it could be a bile duct stone, but how do you get your doctor to test for one without taking him court?  I'm just sick of the pain.  If it is my intestine trapping gas what could be done about it?

Thanks in advance

***@****
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Avatar universal
it is  hard to understand why keven m.d is answering questons in the urology forum at no cost, but here in the gastro forum they charge us,this **** doesn't make a lot of sense(period).
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Avatar universal
hi imkindly good to see you on the forum again ,as you know greed  over takes all including what no doubt was a good recomendation on your part ,but also as you know this sight is owned by cleveland clinic,(if i am not mistaken)and they no doubt want to keep competition out of the piture .i have been  seriously considering cleveland clinic for my brain surgery ,but the conduct of the gastro dept.has me a little concerned as to the well being of the members that could not afford to pay the feeof 15$.sure they are making money as you can seeby the new post, but at what cost to the ones that will be left out .not to mention they counted on this forum for medical suport ,infact it may have been the only suport some members had .they may whipe this post out too,but it does not change the fact .they did not even give a reply back as to why they  started charging after telling the forum otherwise .this is rude and nothing short of uncaring .(just venting) sorry !!! may be the person read the post before it was removed .i have liver disease (cirrhosis,and hep c )and any and all info helps .god bless, wishing you well
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28293 tn?1213136950
I posted a link to Methodist Hospital in Houston here a few days ago------and for some reason MedHelp has removed it.

There are several good liver centers in Houston Texas, but ONLY ONE OF THEM has a Liver Dialysis Machine. (Methodist).

(Liver Dialysis can bring a person out of encephalopathy, when all else fails).

Handy thing to know, for anyone with serious liver problems.
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Avatar universal
i have a web sight that you can go to for the information you need on depakote (www.rxabbott.com)just type in depakote it will take you to the drug. i can tell you in advance it is not a liver friendly drug and can cause liver dammage if not watched closley .if youu have just started on depakote in the last few months they should have started your blood test for every few weeks apart until they knew you were not having a bad liver reaction to the drug, and then maybe drop to every mo. or two  , but 6 mo.s seems to long to me my gastro/hep doctor  had test done on a reg.schedual. i discontinued the depakote because it sent my alt /sgpt etc. through the roof , but  i have hep c and cirrhosis of the liver, again the drug is not known to be liver friendly.you may want to ask them to make the test more often if you entend to remain on it .the other thing is has your liver enzymes test come back high . god bless .wishing you well.
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Avatar universal
Last December 2002, I was taking some medicine that I should not have been on and it messed up my chemicals in my brain. Anyway I was put in the hospital 3 times but they finally got my medications straightened out. I am now on the medicine Serequel 200mg 2 at night & Depokate 500mg 2 at night.  The doctors keep giving me blood testments every 6 months to check blood placlets for my liver.  I have also gained 79 pounds in 14 months and this is also coming from Depokate.  The medicine is really helping me but is there any thing else that would do the same and also  what could I do about my metabolism.? And what is this doing to liver?  Also I have so much trouble with my stomach my doctor just recently switched me Prilosec 20mg to Nexium 40mg twice a day.  Will this speed up my metabolism?
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Avatar universal
also on this sight is a neurology forum which at this point does not charge for a reply you may want to direct a question to the neuro  doc about depakote .wishing you well
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Avatar universal
Either Methodist or St. Luke's in Houston's Medical center.  Get her there quickly.  

She will be in my prayers.
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Avatar universal
FROM READING YOUR POST THE LIVER PROBS STARTED AFTER THE  GLAND SURGERY DO YOU KNOW IF THEY HAVE EVER TESTED FOR HEPATITIS C. THROUGH ONE OF MY SURGERIES MANY YEARS AGO I WAS INFECTED WITH HEP C ALL IT TAKES I A SLIGHT MISTAKE FROM DOCTORS OR NURSES GOING FROM ONE PATIENT TO ANOTHER OR UNCLEAN INSTRUMENTS AND IT CAN BE PASSED.I HAVE CIRRHOSIS DUE TO HEP C NOT TO MENTION IT CAN CAUSE MANY OTHER HEALTH PROBS AND DISEASES.YOU MAY ASK THEM TO RUN A COMPLETE HEPTIC PANNEL ALT ,SGPT, ETC.HOPE THIS WILL HELP .MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOUR MOTHER INLAW .GOD BLESS WISHING YOU WELL .
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233190 tn?1278549801
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello - thanks for asking your question.

I will briefly discuss several causes of liver failure.  Then a few words about liver abscesses.

Hepatitis viruses
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