What to expect

[sad4dad]

My dad has been diagnosed with end stage cirrohisis of the liver about a year ago.  He has been in and out of the hospital (currently in right now).  He seems to do pretty well, then get really bad, then get better, ect. He is also diagnosed with type II diabetes, heart disease, chronic pancreantisis (no function left to his pancreas).  He is only 55.  With all of diagnoses what can I expect to see happen to him and what kind of life expectancy might he have? He has been pretty sick for about 3 years now but was just diagnosed with the cirrohisis last year.  This has been really hard and I was just wondering what more to expect.

[lisaob1]

I'm so sorry to hear what ur goin thru an I wish I could give u answers an I hope u find what ur searching for just wanted to say hi ur not alone and best of luck an best of wishes

[mammo]

I would talk to his doctor and ask him what you can expect.  The family needs to know what to expect and when.  I'm so sorry, it's sad and your dad is so young.  It's hard for anyone here to answer your questions, your dad's doctor is your best resource.  Thoughts and prayers are with you and your dad.  Take care.

[jmlb1986]

Wow, I have answered this question a million times. I can't tell you what you will go through, but I can tell you how my uncles battle with cirrohisis ended. My uncle battle cirrohisis lasted for 15 years from the day of diagnosis. How will forever be a mystery for his family and his doctors. My uncles last day started out like any other day. He had been weak and frail for several years, but it never stopped him from living his life. He had gotten up and drove to town like he did every morning, when  he got home he got out of the car and went in the house, again like he did everyday. He no longer had walked in the door when he start coughing up blood. Although he had told the family that he wanted to die at home, fear over came them and the called the ambulance. He was taken to the ER and from the time they loaded him in the ambulance to the time he arrived at the ER, he and turned yellow. Now when I say yellow, I mean yellow like a banana and it was all over his body. When I say this, I mean his eyes, his teeth, his ears, his entire body was yellow. The ER doctor checked him and knew that he was on his way to heaven that day. Because he was choking on his own blood, they did give us a suction so we could at least keep that from taking him. We spent the day taking turns going in to see him, and to everyones surprise he was wide a wake and holding a normal conversation with all of us. He did say a couple of times that it hurt so bad, but the only thing they could do for him was to give him something to take the edge off.This went on for a good 8 to 10 hrs. Mind you he was stil talking to all of us the entire time. I had recently found out that the office I worked in was closing and he just kept telling me how bad he felt for me, yet never said anything about himself dying. Well at 3:30 they decided to move my uncle from the ER to a room on the 4th floor. The staff advised us that it would take about 30 minutes to get him moved and that we should go grab a bite to eat and by the time we got back he would be settled in his room. So, we all told him what they what they were going to do, that we loved him, and that we would see him upstairs.Of course we did not leave the hospital, we just went up to the 4th floor waiting room until they came and told us we could go in. We walked in the room and in that short 30 minutes, he went from being completely coherent to lapsing into a coma. We had said our last words to him in the ER and did not know it. So we all gathered around his bed and sang his favorite hymns until he took his last breathe at 4:15. Being a nurse my mom checked him and informed us that he had passed and she went to get the nurse so she could call the doctor to come prononce him dead.The staff ask us to leave the room so they could prepare his body to be picked up by the funeral home. When they were done we all went back in and said our last goodbyes as the funeral director arrived to pick up his body. knowing nothing about the  process of someone who died from cirrhosis, the funeral director explained that they would prepare his body for the funeral, but that we should know that people dying from this go from yellow to gray at the time the infection went clear through his body and that it is very hard to cover that up when they prepare him. Once again for whatever reason we do not know, my uncle never turned gray. The yellow had left his body and he looked like he did everyday before he died. So that is our experience of losing a loved one from this tragic situation. A side note for me is that fact that I had lost my father suddenly a few years prior to my uncles death, and I finally understood what a blessing it was for my dad not having to suffer!