what next?

[janesnana]

My friend and I have hep c so far I am ok but my friend is losing her life.  She was healthy and doing well until she had gastric bypass surgery and started drinking.  Within 1 year she is in liver failure.  I can't believe this is happening.  I told her to go to a specialist in liver desease.  Somebody got to help her and she has a 6 year old Son who needs his Mother.  Do you think she is eligible for a liver transplant?  She has the grey sunk in face with the belly swelled like she is having twins.  What is the next step?

[HectorSF]

Hello. I am very sorry to hear about your friend. That is a very sad story. It is very nice of you to want to help in some way.

I am afraid no one develops advanced decompensated cirrhosis over one year. It usually takes many decades of drinking and hep C to destroy a liver to that point. There is a small possibility that she has acute fulminate liver failure which can be caused by drinking and taking Tylenol or some other toxins. But this is only a small percent of patients with liver disease. Liver disease caused by hepatitis C combined with alcoholic is a very common reason for liver failure and the need for a life saving liver transplant.

When you friend does care enough to save herself even with a 6 year child is not uncommon in life long alcoholics that only care about there alcohol and nothing and nobody else. Obviously no one in their right mind would practice behaviors that will have a life long traumatic affect on a young child. I really feel sorry for her son who will have suffer for the rest of his life. Because kids think they aren’t loved because something is wrong with them and that is why their mom left them. That is a heavy burden for any child starting off in life.

If your friend is still drinking or drugging she will have to quit abusing herself for the rest of her life and convince the transplant center of this to be eligible to be listed for a transplant. Most transplant centers will require 6-12 months of sobriety be a patient can be listed. People die every day waiting for organs that are in short supply. They will not give an organ to an alcoholic as an alcoholic will not comply with all that is required of a transplant patient. They will not take their meds daily and have the required blood tests. Transplant is a lifetime commitment. For a patient that doesn’t have the self discipline to cure their addictions, they will only die anyway after transplant. Why would they give a patient who only might live a year or two a donor liver, when they can give it to someone that desperately wants to live with every fiber in their body and will walk through hell to get it in order to live another 10-20 years?

Grey skin or an orange yellow skin is common in advanced liver disease.
Looking like she is pregnant is also common and happens in the majority of patients who are neat or in End Stage Liver Disease. It is called “ascites” and is caused by the inability of the liver to perform it normal functions.

...I need to stop now. If you have any questions just ask and I will reply when I can.

I wish you friend all the best.
hector

[einsteinus]

Make sure you take care of yourself as well. You are Hep C pos and you need support as well. Its noble you care so much as you do. I know when I got my Dx my life changed automatically. It's funny because I was never a big drinker but all the other things you have to do in addition to that gives you distance from all riff raft in life. She needs help starting with AA or something...nobody that is an active drinker would make the list to get a transplant..that much I do know..

[panda2526]

I am sorry to hear of your friend's troubles...if she is that sick and is still refusing to go to the drs in spite of all the positive motivation she may have in having a child who needs her, if she does not take the steps she needs to to get help she obviously needs, what else can be done?

If she is drinking, and has endangered her health without thought of consequence then how can one force someone to get help? Just because WE can see something for what it is, when you are dealing with someone with a dependency or addiction, they aren't thinking rationally or with good sense to see their OWN situation clearly, no matter what may be happening to her, and by extension, her child.

I don't know the procedure for getting someone help when they refuse to be helped...or don't want to be helped. I am sorry for your plight and the tremendous strain emotionally that this must be on you as you watch a loved one deteriorate due to health and lifestyle choices.

If her disease is progressed and she is in end stage, then she will have to take the necessary steps to get herself to be under drs advice and care. They will be able to assess her condition and make the recommendations. No one here can tell you if she is eligible for transplant. There is a lot of things that have to be determined before that can take place. Hector here can tell you about all that...he has been waiting for a transplant, so maybe he has a better idea of that side of things or can recommend a course of action for you and for her. If she does not want to go through with even seeing a dr. that might be the deciding factor right there.

All we can do is pass that on...I don't know how helpful that is, and I'm certain you already know all of this yourself. You are crying out for help. She is not or may not ever. I hope for your sake and her child that she does soon.

I hope for the very best for you and the young one and for an adequate resolution to your situation as soon as possible.