What questions should I be asking

[Nikkie704]

I have been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.  It was verified by a biopsy.  What questions should I be asking?
I've read some of the other questions about blood levels etc. and am totally in the dark.  They discovered it by accident when performing other surgery.  My liver levels were always off and I had been diagnosed with a fatty liver years ago but nothing was ever done about it.  The operating Doctor said to loose weight and sent me back to my primary Dr.
I've read up on cirrhosis but I haven't seen anything that explains grades or levels of cirrhosis.  They did test for Hepatitis and that was negative.  It is non alcohol related (NASH).  Should I be seeing a specialist?  What should I be asking?  

[Nikkie704]

I understand your problem.  I was diagnosed with cirrhosis after a biopsy and was also set adrift to "fend for myself".  I went to a local gastroenterologist who acted like I made it up because I didn't have any real symptoms that he could see.  I even showed him the pictures taken during surgery showing a clearly cirrhotic liver and all he said was come back in a year.  The only real abnormality I have is leukopenia and somewhat abnormal liver numbers.  I don't know what to do either.  Help

[cat33]

Ask your Dr. if the cirrhosis is bad enough for you to go get and eveluation for a liver transplant. Thats where they sent me when they got the biopsy report back.

Get your blood test resuls if you don't have them and figure out you meld score. That will show you how bad it is. . Just Google in MELD score and it will come up , then you enter your billirbin # creatinine # amd INR # it will calculate a result for you to go by . There is also explanations and information to help you along. Try it.  That is what the DR.s used as a guide line.

[Thomas D Schiano, MD]

what you describe is actually becoming a common  but can also be occult.  I think you should both definitely see a gastroemterologist or hepatologist to make sure that there is no lother iver disease present.  patients with cirrhosis even to a mild degree can develop hepatocellular carcinoma so a CT scan or MRI should be perfomed.  weight loss becomes very important if at possible.

i hope this is helpful