How Long?

[valleygirl1959]

My Mother in law is 77 yrs old  lives in LA california, she was diagnosed about 5 yrs ago, and was told there is nothing they can do for her. She prob contracted it in Europe many years ago.  She has been going downhill, she has been going to hospital about every 2 weeks to remove fluid from her belly, and is given Albumen.  She is very tired going from bed to kitchen, to couch to bathroom.  Sleeping a lot. She sometimes get so weak that her legs give out and she has fallen several times.  My sister in law said she does not have till Christmas to live, but she seems to keep going.  The doctors have advised Palitive care.  We are not sure how long this can go on?  We are all taking care of her and working etc.  How long can this keep going on?

[valleygirl1959]

Hey I wish you all the best, at least you have the chance of liver transplant.  My mother in law never drank a drop in her life and has no chance of transplant.  I will pray for you guys. He can do it - quite Alcohol....

[valleygirl1959]

She is seeing a liver specialist.  She has an arsenal of meds.  She is also borderline diabetic, so she has to take meds for that too.  She takes a liquid in am and pm to make her go to the washroom, otherwise the toxins get worse, she slures her speach and when she wakes up it is almost like she is sleep walking.  She also gets cvery angry and does not want to listen when she has an episode.  One night she woke up in the middle of the night to go to washroom, she was so weak that she fell in the washroom,  and then insisted to go to the kitchen which was down 8 stairs....she argued when we told her to go back to bed, and barley made it down stairs.  We are struggling with weather to keep her at home or put her into a nursing home.  How long can she go on like this?

[faith601]

My husband has liver failure and hepatis C.  He finally got the message about 10 weeks ago and has quit drinking.  We have been doctoring.  On Friday he was so out of it, very confused.  We were at the doctors and they have put him on neomycin sulfate and lactoluse to hopefully help clear his head.  He needs to be off alcohol for 6 months before he can be considered for a liver transplant, which with Hep. C may not even happen. He is 57.  Reading the preceding comments sounds so much like what is goin on with him right now.  We have only been married 2 years and he is the love of my life.  How can this be happeing?  I am really scarred.

[copyman]

sounds like hepatic encephalopathy, this happens with severe liver disease. when the liver cannot process toxic substances properly it makes it into brain and causes this. there is a medicine they can give if they have high amonia levels. ask a doctor about this. Make sure your loved ones are seeing a "hepatologist" (liver speciliat) best of luck

[gg686]

Hello.
Sorry to hear about your friend.  My mother in law too has episodes of deliriumm last night she was putting the clock on her feet she thought it was her slippers.  She has also in the past gone to the kitchen thought it was the bathroom and used the dining chair as a toliet.  But she always rebounds and goes back to normal for a week or so then has a relapse.  She also has throwing up nausa etc and gets very weak every couple of weeks. Her liver is completly gone so they say.

[junieb]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the responses and support. I think that my best friend that is suffering w/hep c final stages of liver failure may be at the end of her time. Are any of the people that you know w/hep c experiencing delirium? My friend is having delirium about 90 % of the day. She can not function on her own, can not use the bathroom or stand up at all. Most of the time she can not feed herself and can not identify the food that she is givin. If you told her that the steak is fish she would believe it. I just would like to say that I encourage anyone that has hep c to continue w/the treatments! My friend tried the treatments about 8 months ago, maybe only tried 3 times and couldn't hack it because it made her sick to her stomach. Please continue w/the treatments even if it makes you sick, it could be worth it but I may be speaking out of turn because I really don't know enough about this illness just what I have experienced w/my best friend. It is difficult to say or guess how long a person can live in this condition as each individual is different but I have recently been told by a knowledgable person that once they start to have dilirium it usually goes pretty quickly maybe a few weeks. It is heartbreaking and if any of you w/hep c have seen what I have seen with the final stages you would take good care of yourselves and not ever touch a drop of any harmful substance. Take care

[HCA]

This link gives the survival rates;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child-Pugh_score
It sounds from your description that she has Child-Pugh grade C cirrhosis for which the one year survival rate is 45%