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Liver Failure and cirrhosis death, anyone go through this?
If you have lost a friend or close relative to liver failure and cirhosis, please share with me the amount of time they had in "end stage". We are trying to get some idea of what to expect....I have posted on the liver forum...but decided to ask here as well. Thank you all for your time!
Mary Z
Mary Z
My husband passed away March 19 due to liver failure brought on by years of drinking, excessive use of painkillers, and Hep C. He started acting confused, doing strange things like trying to pull electrical wiring out of the wall and throwing pills around, calling out the door for 'help', etc. I called an ambulance. Two months later, he was gone. His abdomen was completely filled with fluid, which they drained several times before putting in a permanent valve...He had wounds that just wouldn't heal, bloody nose, and lost so much weight he was literally skin and bones. The last day I saw him alive, he wouldn't even drink anything. He was completely unresponsive, other than twitching if I touched him. The next morning, he was gone. He was 59. I am so heartbroken I can barely function. It's a horrible way to go, horrible for him, and for those of us who witnessed it. I hope he is at peace.
I know exactly how you feel. My mom passed away from liver failure just this January right before both of our birthdays. She went into a coma before Christmas and I didn't get a chance to speak to her since. When she first was admitted to the hospital (Black Friday) they didn't even tell us she was DYING. They just said her liver is in really bad shape but as long as we could get her ammonia levels come down, she would be alright. She got better for a few days, then her lungs began to fail and she slipped into a coma when they sedated her to give her the breathing machine. We had no idea how close to death she was. We knew she was sick, but none of the doctors were ever really upfront and everyone was really cold. This is one of the most excruciating pains to ever deal with. Especially with no closure or answers. My prayers are with you. <3
My mom is 55 years old and was just diagnosed with liver cancer last week. My mom has cirrhosis of the liver, and hepatitis C, she is a nurse and they think it was contracted during school, and training with needles. Anyway my mom did not even know she had cirrhosis or hep c until about 2 years ago when she started vomiting blood and had to be rushed to the hospital. Thank God, my mom has never been an alcohol drinker, or smoker. My mom's GI Doctor referred her to a hepatologist, just in case transplant was necessary, but they first needed to treat the Hep C, and she was not healthy enough for the treatment of Hep C, so they were waiting it out.
My mom knew of her increased risk of developing liver cancer, and they were doing ultrasounds of the liver every six months, and they saw what they thought was a hemangioma, and thought it was non-cancerous. My mother's Hepatologist ordered an MRI last week to be sure the "hamangioma" was not cancer, and sure enough it grew, and it is cancer. Being that my mom's liver is still fully functioning, the hepatologist did not have her on a transplant list yet.
My mom does have the complications from the cirrhosis such as, weight loss (although she has always been thin her entire life), bruises very easy, very slight swelling in the ankles, if you did not know her, you would not think her ankles were swollen at all. My mom also has asthma, and had a very bad lung infection last December which they admitted her, and they pumped her full of so much fluid and steroids, her stomach swelled up like she was 9 months pregnant, and they had to drain the fluid twice, but since she has been home, released the day before Christmas Eve 2014, it took some time for swelling to go down completely, but now she has minimal ascites, you cannot even tell her stomach is swollen. My mom is not jaundice yet, still normal bowel movements, eating fine, and still working.
My mom's Doctor was very comforting, and he told her it's not like this is a death sentence, but he wants to get on the transplant right away. The doctor also said the good news is the cancer started in the liver, and is nowhere else yet. The doctor plans on treating the tumor on her liver with radiation once to hopefully break it down, and then if necessary keep treating the tumor to keep it from spreading while they are waiting on a liver donor, so not only do we know she has cancer, we know for sure she is going to have a liver transplant which is in itself scary.
My siblings and I are going to meet with her transplant team with her as soon as they call her, and they want to start the radiation right away, just waiting on the call to come in. My mom is so scared, I am so scared, but I cannot let her see it, I need to be strong for her, she should not have to comfort me. I keep trying to be positive, and know that makes a big difference, and tell myself most of her current health problems are from her cirrhosis, so if the liver transplant is successful she can end up stronger than before. Plus she could die from the cirrhosis so I always have that worry, cancer or not.
At this point we are very lucky my mom is a candidate for a liver transplant, but she is scared treating the tumor with radiation with throw her into liver failure, but if she chooses to not take treatment it could spread. I am 29 years old, my mom's youngest daughter, I also have a 32 year old brother, and a 38 year old sister and we all love her so much as you can imagine. Our dad died in 1997, and our mom has been our rock, and since my dad died, when I was 11 my worst fear has always been not having my mom, I cannot imagine life without her. I try to tell myself things like I have been lucky to have her this long, not that I am accepting her death, but just a way to cope with the worry I guess. I tell my mom none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and any of us could get cancer tomorrow. The way I look at it, we knew she had a 100 fold chance of getting liver cancer, and she worried herself sick, so now it's here, no more worry or wonder, and we can hit it head on!
Anyway, we are so scared, and I think one of the worst things right now is knowing there is nothing I can say to her, or anything I can do to make her feel better, or to make her better. My mom has always been the greatest mom, and she has three beautiful grandchildren 12 & 2 (my brothers) and my daughter who is 3. My mom has had a hard life, she has worked hard and rose above so much, and now she says she is finally to a good point in her life and she wants to enjoy her grandchildren, and now she is faced with this. I feel so bad for her, but tell her God works in funny ways, and getting the liver transplant is her best option right now, and having the cancer will get her the transplant she needs, if she did not have cancer, she would still be waiting and wondering how long she has before her liver fails, so if she can get a healthier liver she can be stronger than before.
I find comfort in knowing I can be there for her like she has for me my entire life, like my husband said, she is not going through this alone, we are all right there with her. I love her so much!! She deserves to get to see her grandchildren grow and dance at their weddings, but ultimately that is Gods decision, and I trust in him. She made a remark watching a show "Well I got to see all of my kids get married and see my grandchildren" I bet that is a way for her to comfort herself. I will keep everyone posted once things start moving along, and God Bless!!
My mom knew of her increased risk of developing liver cancer, and they were doing ultrasounds of the liver every six months, and they saw what they thought was a hemangioma, and thought it was non-cancerous. My mother's Hepatologist ordered an MRI last week to be sure the "hamangioma" was not cancer, and sure enough it grew, and it is cancer. Being that my mom's liver is still fully functioning, the hepatologist did not have her on a transplant list yet.
My mom does have the complications from the cirrhosis such as, weight loss (although she has always been thin her entire life), bruises very easy, very slight swelling in the ankles, if you did not know her, you would not think her ankles were swollen at all. My mom also has asthma, and had a very bad lung infection last December which they admitted her, and they pumped her full of so much fluid and steroids, her stomach swelled up like she was 9 months pregnant, and they had to drain the fluid twice, but since she has been home, released the day before Christmas Eve 2014, it took some time for swelling to go down completely, but now she has minimal ascites, you cannot even tell her stomach is swollen. My mom is not jaundice yet, still normal bowel movements, eating fine, and still working.
My mom's Doctor was very comforting, and he told her it's not like this is a death sentence, but he wants to get on the transplant right away. The doctor also said the good news is the cancer started in the liver, and is nowhere else yet. The doctor plans on treating the tumor on her liver with radiation once to hopefully break it down, and then if necessary keep treating the tumor to keep it from spreading while they are waiting on a liver donor, so not only do we know she has cancer, we know for sure she is going to have a liver transplant which is in itself scary.
My siblings and I are going to meet with her transplant team with her as soon as they call her, and they want to start the radiation right away, just waiting on the call to come in. My mom is so scared, I am so scared, but I cannot let her see it, I need to be strong for her, she should not have to comfort me. I keep trying to be positive, and know that makes a big difference, and tell myself most of her current health problems are from her cirrhosis, so if the liver transplant is successful she can end up stronger than before. Plus she could die from the cirrhosis so I always have that worry, cancer or not.
At this point we are very lucky my mom is a candidate for a liver transplant, but she is scared treating the tumor with radiation with throw her into liver failure, but if she chooses to not take treatment it could spread. I am 29 years old, my mom's youngest daughter, I also have a 32 year old brother, and a 38 year old sister and we all love her so much as you can imagine. Our dad died in 1997, and our mom has been our rock, and since my dad died, when I was 11 my worst fear has always been not having my mom, I cannot imagine life without her. I try to tell myself things like I have been lucky to have her this long, not that I am accepting her death, but just a way to cope with the worry I guess. I tell my mom none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and any of us could get cancer tomorrow. The way I look at it, we knew she had a 100 fold chance of getting liver cancer, and she worried herself sick, so now it's here, no more worry or wonder, and we can hit it head on!
Anyway, we are so scared, and I think one of the worst things right now is knowing there is nothing I can say to her, or anything I can do to make her feel better, or to make her better. My mom has always been the greatest mom, and she has three beautiful grandchildren 12 & 2 (my brothers) and my daughter who is 3. My mom has had a hard life, she has worked hard and rose above so much, and now she says she is finally to a good point in her life and she wants to enjoy her grandchildren, and now she is faced with this. I feel so bad for her, but tell her God works in funny ways, and getting the liver transplant is her best option right now, and having the cancer will get her the transplant she needs, if she did not have cancer, she would still be waiting and wondering how long she has before her liver fails, so if she can get a healthier liver she can be stronger than before.
I find comfort in knowing I can be there for her like she has for me my entire life, like my husband said, she is not going through this alone, we are all right there with her. I love her so much!! She deserves to get to see her grandchildren grow and dance at their weddings, but ultimately that is Gods decision, and I trust in him. She made a remark watching a show "Well I got to see all of my kids get married and see my grandchildren" I bet that is a way for her to comfort herself. I will keep everyone posted once things start moving along, and God Bless!!
My mom is 55 years old and was just diagnosed with liver cancer last week. My mom has cirrhosis of the liver, and hepatitis C, she is a nurse and they think it was contracted during school, and training with needles. Anyway my mom did not even know she had cirrhosis or hep c until about 2 years ago when she started vomiting blood and had to be rushed to the hospital. Thank God, my mom has never been an alcohol drinker, or smoker. My mom's GI Doctor referred her to a hepatologist, just in case transplant was necessary, but they first needed to treat the Hep C, and she was not healthy enough for the treatment of Hep C, so they were waiting it out.
My mom knew of her increased risk of developing liver cancer, and they were doing ultrasounds of the liver every six months, and they saw what they thought was a hemangioma, and thought it was non-cancerous. My mother's Hepatologist ordered an MRI last week to be sure the "hamangioma" was not cancer, and sure enough it grew, and it is cancer. Being that my mom's liver is still fully functioning, the hepatologist did not have her on a transplant list yet.
My mom does have the complications from the cirrhosis such as, weight loss (although she has always been thin her entire life), bruises very easy, very slight swelling in the ankles, if you did not know her, you would not think her ankles were swollen at all. My mom also has asthma, and had a very bad lung infection last December which they admitted her, and they pumped her full of so much fluid and steroids, her stomach swelled up like she was 9 months pregnant, and they had to drain the fluid twice, but since she has been home, released the day before Christmas Eve 2014, it took some time for swelling to go down completely, but now she has minimal ascites, you cannot even tell her stomach is swollen. My mom is not jaundice yet, still normal bowel movements, eating fine, and still working.
My mom's Doctor was very comforting, and he told her it's not like this is a death sentence, but he wants to get on the transplant right away. The doctor also said the good news is the cancer started in the liver, and is nowhere else yet. The doctor plans on treating the tumor on her liver with radiation once to hopefully break it down, and then if necessary keep treating the tumor to keep it from spreading while they are waiting on a liver donor, so not only do we know she has cancer, we know for sure she is going to have a liver transplant which is in itself scary.
My siblings and I are going to meet with her transplant team with her as soon as they call her, and they want to start the radiation right away, just waiting on the call to come in. My mom is so scared, I am so scared, but I cannot let her see it, I need to be strong for her, she should not have to comfort me. I keep trying to be positive, and know that makes a big difference, and tell myself most of her current health problems are from her cirrhosis, so if the liver transplant is successful she can end up stronger than before. Plus she could die from the cirrhosis so I always have that worry, cancer or not.
At this point we are very lucky my mom is a candidate for a liver transplant, but she is scared treating the tumor with radiation with throw her into liver failure, but if she chooses to not take treatment it could spread. I am 29 years old, my mom's youngest daughter, I also have a 32 year old brother, and a 38 year old sister and we all love her so much as you can imagine. Our dad died in 1997, and our mom has been our rock, and since my dad died, when I was 11 my worst fear has always been not having my mom, I cannot imagine life without her. I try to tell myself things like I have been lucky to have her this long, not that I am accepting her death, but just a way to cope with the worry I guess. I tell my mom none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and any of us could get cancer tomorrow. The way I look at it, we knew she had a 100 fold chance of getting liver cancer, and she worried herself sick, so now it's here, no more worry or wonder, and we can hit it head on!
Anyway, we are so scared, and I think one of the worst things right now is knowing there is nothing I can say to her, or anything I can do to make her feel better, or to make her better. My mom has always been the greatest mom, and she has three beautiful grandchildren 12 & 2 (my brothers) and my daughter who is 3. My mom has had a hard life, she has worked hard and rose above so much, and now she says she is finally to a good point in her life and she wants to enjoy her grandchildren, and now she is faced with this. I feel so bad for her, but tell her God works in funny ways, and getting the liver transplant is her best option right now, and having the cancer will get her the transplant she needs, if she did not have cancer, she would still be waiting and wondering how long she has before her liver fails, so if she can get a healthier liver she can be stronger than before.
I find comfort in knowing I can be there for her like she has for me my entire life, like my husband said, she is not going through this alone, we are all right there with her. I love her so much!! She deserves to get to see her grandchildren grow and dance at their weddings, but ultimately that is Gods decision, and I trust in him. She made a remark watching a show "Well I got to see all of my kids get married and see my grandchildren" I bet that is a way for her to comfort herself. I will keep everyone posted once things start moving along, and God Bless!!
My mom knew of her increased risk of developing liver cancer, and they were doing ultrasounds of the liver every six months, and they saw what they thought was a hemangioma, and thought it was non-cancerous. My mother's Hepatologist ordered an MRI last week to be sure the "hamangioma" was not cancer, and sure enough it grew, and it is cancer. Being that my mom's liver is still fully functioning, the hepatologist did not have her on a transplant list yet.
My mom does have the complications from the cirrhosis such as, weight loss (although she has always been thin her entire life), bruises very easy, very slight swelling in the ankles, if you did not know her, you would not think her ankles were swollen at all. My mom also has asthma, and had a very bad lung infection last December which they admitted her, and they pumped her full of so much fluid and steroids, her stomach swelled up like she was 9 months pregnant, and they had to drain the fluid twice, but since she has been home, released the day before Christmas Eve 2014, it took some time for swelling to go down completely, but now she has minimal ascites, you cannot even tell her stomach is swollen. My mom is not jaundice yet, still normal bowel movements, eating fine, and still working.
My mom's Doctor was very comforting, and he told her it's not like this is a death sentence, but he wants to get on the transplant right away. The doctor also said the good news is the cancer started in the liver, and is nowhere else yet. The doctor plans on treating the tumor on her liver with radiation once to hopefully break it down, and then if necessary keep treating the tumor to keep it from spreading while they are waiting on a liver donor, so not only do we know she has cancer, we know for sure she is going to have a liver transplant which is in itself scary.
My siblings and I are going to meet with her transplant team with her as soon as they call her, and they want to start the radiation right away, just waiting on the call to come in. My mom is so scared, I am so scared, but I cannot let her see it, I need to be strong for her, she should not have to comfort me. I keep trying to be positive, and know that makes a big difference, and tell myself most of her current health problems are from her cirrhosis, so if the liver transplant is successful she can end up stronger than before. Plus she could die from the cirrhosis so I always have that worry, cancer or not.
At this point we are very lucky my mom is a candidate for a liver transplant, but she is scared treating the tumor with radiation with throw her into liver failure, but if she chooses to not take treatment it could spread. I am 29 years old, my mom's youngest daughter, I also have a 32 year old brother, and a 38 year old sister and we all love her so much as you can imagine. Our dad died in 1997, and our mom has been our rock, and since my dad died, when I was 11 my worst fear has always been not having my mom, I cannot imagine life without her. I try to tell myself things like I have been lucky to have her this long, not that I am accepting her death, but just a way to cope with the worry I guess. I tell my mom none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and any of us could get cancer tomorrow. The way I look at it, we knew she had a 100 fold chance of getting liver cancer, and she worried herself sick, so now it's here, no more worry or wonder, and we can hit it head on!
Anyway, we are so scared, and I think one of the worst things right now is knowing there is nothing I can say to her, or anything I can do to make her feel better, or to make her better. My mom has always been the greatest mom, and she has three beautiful grandchildren 12 & 2 (my brothers) and my daughter who is 3. My mom has had a hard life, she has worked hard and rose above so much, and now she says she is finally to a good point in her life and she wants to enjoy her grandchildren, and now she is faced with this. I feel so bad for her, but tell her God works in funny ways, and getting the liver transplant is her best option right now, and having the cancer will get her the transplant she needs, if she did not have cancer, she would still be waiting and wondering how long she has before her liver fails, so if she can get a healthier liver she can be stronger than before.
I find comfort in knowing I can be there for her like she has for me my entire life, like my husband said, she is not going through this alone, we are all right there with her. I love her so much!! She deserves to get to see her grandchildren grow and dance at their weddings, but ultimately that is Gods decision, and I trust in him. She made a remark watching a show "Well I got to see all of my kids get married and see my grandchildren" I bet that is a way for her to comfort herself. I will keep everyone posted once things start moving along, and God Bless!!
I am very sorry to hear this and I wish you all the best.iI have lost both my father and grandfather to liver disease and I can tell you it is a very horrible death.I say this to you to prepare you and not to scare you.First there skin and eyes will yellow.Next stage is bloating of the stomach once this happens you will have to take her to the hospital to have it drained.From my experience with my father he bloated 3 times he first two he came home and was good for about 2 weeks and thats when he bloated out again.When the 3rd time happend we took him in and he never came home he passed away in the hospital about 4 days later.So what I can say to you is once she starts getting sick from it.From the start to end is only about 3 to 4 months.once the liver starts to shut down the process is very fast.I wish you and your family all the best
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