Education, Education, Education

My Names Richard and I live in Stoke-on-Trent with my wife Chris. I had a liver transplant on the 1st October 2016 carried out by the wonderful staff at the QE Birmingham. My donor liver and I are now on a crusade to educate and warn others of the dangers of alcohol-related liver disease. To bring conditions like Varices, Ascites

and Hepatic Encephalopathy out in to the public domain, and to make others aware what awaits them further down their path of life.

I believe that knowledge is power, and hopefully with power comes change. My unknown donor didn't just save my life, but hopefully together we can go on to save many others too. My Donor didn't die in vein.

[Eirene49]

Hi Richard, so pleased you've had your transplant, you look very well and healthy. I'm sure you are eternally grateful to your donor for giving you a wonderful gift and will always be thankful. I agree entirely that there isn't enough awareness of how alcohol can do irreparable damage if consumed in excess over time, and for some people this can happen quicker than others. I gave up drinking completely over 2 years ago, as I was worried about my drinking, although I didn't drink every day, I still had an addiction problem. I've learnt so much from this website and to be honest was totally unaware that you may have no symptoms until it's too late. Hope you get the word out there, and embrace what you are trying to do. The government definitely needs to up their game re educating people to the dangers of alcohol. Best wishes.

[susieanna]

Good for you Richard. X

[Marie1980x]

Hi Richard I've been havering liver function tests for a year now I've had scan and it was clear but my symptoms are getting worse I have liver specialist appointment Monday for repeat scan they think autoimmune disease I don't drink I have started smoking again with all the stress but will stop the ironic thing is my brother is currently in hospital as we speak undergoing treatment for alcoholism he has an alcoholic fatty liver enlarged spleen and has damage to stomach liver specialist said he has cirrhosis of the liver we are both at complete different ends of the spectrum it's unreal even though I told doctors I don't drink I always seem to get frowned upon like I'm lying it's horrible I hate it do you know what the specialist will do for both of us x

[Hidden]

Please don't beat yourself up, I can understand your frustration though. This must be a very worrying time for you Marie, not only for your own condition and worries but also those of your brother. The liver is a most fantastic organ with wonderful regenerative powers. You might know that it carries out over 400 different functions. May I ask please which hospital you are going to? I ask this because when I was admitted into our hospital here at Stoke-on-Trent, was because I was having a variceal bleed from both the portal vein and also from the oesophagus. Once this was under control and I was discharged, all notes and scan images were sent down to the excellent Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, which is one of the six transplant liver specialist hospitals in the country. If you are being seen by a local Hepatology department in your local hospital, you could always ask to be referred to a specialist centre.

[Hidden]

I should have mentioned that the nice people here at the BLT have posted up My Story, and is available to read.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Welcome to our Healthunlocked forum Richard, and thanks for sharing your story.

Warm wishes,

Rebecca

[BSA-3]

Forgive my ignorance, but what does "posted up 'My Story '" mean?

[Hidden in reply to BSA-3]

No problem, when someone puts something up for all to see on a website it means they've posted it up. It's like putting a notice up on a notice board, you are putting it up for all to read. If you go to the main British Liver Trusts website at: britishlivertrust.org.uk/ if you then select where is says, "Finding Support" there is a section called, "Your Stories" here you can read other peoples stories about their experiences with Liver problems. My story can be read by double clicking on this link: britishlivertrust.org.uk/st...

[BSA-3]

Thanks for that. I'm a bit of a Luddite!

[RodeoJoe]

Good work fella!