Hi.i am the daughter of two alcoholic parents.sadly mum passed away 3 years ago due to alcohol related problems and since then my father hit rock bottom and hit the bottle hard! Hes been in and out of hosp and been diagnosed with a decompensated liver.he was admitted to hosp in march with ascites , bladder rete tion and slightly jaundiced.was in there a week,when he came out he didnt touch a drop of alcohol for 3 months!... bare in mind for years he was drinking a litre of whiskey per day and sometimes more if he could get it!
In june he decided to start drinking beer/lager.started with non alcoholic then shandy now about 6 cans lager a day and yesterday i found a bottle of wine as well!
Hes damaged the cerebellum in brain.blood doesnt clot.platelets low.most of the bloodwork is low.slurred speech.wheelchair bound now due to peripheral nueropathy.eyelids semi drooped.i think slightly jaundiced and ascites looks to be appearing again.this is the current state at the mo as well as memory loss.odd sleeping patterns and a whole lot more!
Last year was absoloutely horrendous! Loads more ailments.up to 6 falls a day.diahorrea.muscle wastage.slept up to 22 hrs daily.hideous angry mood swings.anorexia.vommit blood.hallucinating and basically days away from dying!
Hes eating now.seems happier and willing to go out in public. Seems like a vast improvement as he really was on deaths door.however,the hospital and gp have talked about transplant but have said he wont be offered it as he cannot commit and abstain from drinking.hes not at all well as hes now decompensated.
I just wanted to offload and question his lifespan and basically find out about your experiences.thankyou for reading....if u managed to get to the end !?
Decompensated liver
Decompensated Liver/End stage Liver Disease
My son has just been diagnosed with decompensated liver disease.
Liver disease doesn't play by the rules. It's amazing how long some patients can chug along, even while continuing to drink.
When the end comes, it may be fast. If he isn't getting regular endoscopies for banding varices, a massive GI bleed is possible, and this could kill in an hour without swift emergency treatment. Ascites can become infected and lead to sepsis, and falls can cause hemorrhagic stroke.
You're earning Karma points with all your caregiving. This won't go on forever, but there really is no way to accurately forecast life expectancy in these patients.
Thankyou for your reply.i am learning, and have learnt on this journey, the turmoil and upset this causes.the highs and lows it chucks in its wake.just as one thing eases or seems to get better,another rears its ugly head.
A massive GI bleed is what the family GP has mentioned as her main worry,along with stroke and heart failure.gastro dept have signed him off and transferred him to hepatologist.he has a liver scan due in sept as a 6 month check from hosp stay back in march.he was told of the warnings all along ,the severity of it all but with his dementia hes now got, he just forgets and picks out the bits he wants to hear.bypassing the obvious important stuff! (denial once again).
He was told in march he would be lucky to reach 6 months if he carried on drinking and longer if he abstained. Hes just been tested for hepb and hepc amongst a whole new set of bloods looking for other things so we are also waiting for news on the results....to be continued.