Hepatologist Review meeting

[jacobsmum24]

Good Morning

Hope everyone is feeling as well as they possibly can today.

I have a review meeting with my Hepatologist tomorrow and am feeling fairly positive about it. LFTs have all improved significantly since my initial diagnosis although Bilirubin is still not in the normal range but is about 80% better than it was. Platelets are also still on the low side but not a major cause for concern. I have few symptoms apart from occasional tiredness which varies from day to day. I am confident that if consultant recalculates MELD/UKELD, my score will be down a few points. I have never had HE or Ascites so feel fairly fortunate at the moment and can testify that with abstinence, good diet and exercise, you can definitely feel better (although I know I will never actually BE better !). I also think that trying to keep a positive mental attitude makes a huge difference.

The only little niggle I currently have is sporadic left shoulder pain which goes up my neck to my ear. I initially thought this was a muscular ache but am now querying whether it could be radiated pain from an enlarged spleen which seems to be a given in most cirrhosis sufferers. The pain isn't really bad and tends to disappear altogether when I am lying down or standing up but comes back when I am sitting down. I have no pain lower down in the actual spleen area and no feelings of a full abdomen after eating.

I will discuss at my appointment tomorrow but wondered if anyone else had experienced similar ?

Keep up the healthy lifestyles everyone and keep smiling too 😊😊😊

[Hidden]

Good luck with your consultant appointment. Can you take anyone with you? sometimes it helps as they can write everything down that is being said.

If you need to call the British Liver Trust helpline for a chat it is open 10am to 14.45 on 0800 652 7330

Best wishes

Trust1

[Isabelle2]

Hi

That’s interesting. I used to have terrible pains in my left shoulder. X rays showed up no arthritis. Slowly, post transplant they have disappeared . I wonder if it was that.

Isabelle xx

[Hidden in reply to Isabelle2]

Spot on, I think it's a common enough symptom of referred pain. I had it but mines a pain in the neck. It likes to move about. Currently left wrist, ankle & right elbow. Strangely enough grief to disturb sleep but not during the day. 4got to mention my knees but they run in the family or don't run as the case maybe. Can't jog on thanks.🤔

[jacobsmum24 in reply to Hidden]

I get twinges in my left thumb too but thinking arthritis. Old age doesn't come itself....

[Hidden in reply to jacobsmum24]

I just put it down the cirrhosis, what I like to call minor symptoms & hope to remain compensated. Age is upon me. What's the point in having a bus pass when you can't catch it. 😁

[jacobsmum24 in reply to Hidden]

They will raise the bus pass age the week before you go to collect yours 😂

[davianne]

Hi jacobsmum,

Best of luck with your appointment today.

I have an enlarged liver and spleen, and get pretty bad capsule pain. I've have the pain all around inside my ribcage, radiating to the back and shoulders. As I am of senior years😁😁😁, I do have a lot of joint pain, caused by osteoarthritis, probably caused by too much exercise in my younger days🤣🤣🤣. I also have a very low platelet count.

David

[jacobsmum24 in reply to davianne]

Good Morning David

I am sitting in a coffee shop in the "big city" waiting patiently for my appointment !

I don't have any real pain in my abdomen, rib cage or around the liver and spleen. This is probably a stupid question but to have radiated pain in the shoulder, do you have to have pain in the problem area for it to radiate ?

I will ask the consultant when I get to the Liver Clinic but just wondered what you think.

Time for another skinny latte and croissant first though .

[davianne in reply to jacobsmum24]

Hi again,

Are you at Kings or the Royal Free? My blood results get sent to Kings every blood test, even though my Hepatologist claims I'm too old to be considered for a transplant should it be necessary.

David

[Hidden in reply to davianne]

Reverse psychology. MOT Checking that you are not missbehaving, misfiring & serviceable, Keeping you past your sell by date, not trading you in as there's still life in the old classic model. Preserved not pickled. WD40. 🏁

[jacobsmum24 in reply to davianne]

Oh no David, I am in Scotland. Aberdeen is my "big city" !

[davianne in reply to jacobsmum24]

Ah Bonny Scotland, where my ancestors and my Wife come from. We have family in Kilmarnock and Perth.

[davianne]

Hi jacobsmum,

My upper pain started in both shoulders....really painful if I tried to lift my arms above horizontal. My shoulders are a lot better now, but the pain I think has transferred to my back, hips and ribcage. It's difficult to determine if it's coming from the capsule. Prior to having cirrhosis, I did have back pain caused by a rugby injury many years ago.....trapped sciatic nerve. All the other pains have appeared since my cirrhosis, and I do get a fair bit of joint pain, but again, it could be arthritis. You are right in your assumption that radiated pain has to have somewhere to radiate from.

Best of luck, and get all your questions sorted before you go in.

David

[jacobsmum24]

Thanks to everyone who took an interest in my wee appointment. Done and dusted in 20 minutes ! Weighed, blood taken and consultant listened to my heart, that was it. No poking or prodding but was advised that shoulder pain was due to wear and tear rather than radiated pain from liver or spleen. Not sure how consultant could tell that but he sounded fairly sure. Checked what meds I am taking and said he would see me again in 3 months as long as blood results come back ok tomorrow.

Had to fill the rest of my day trip with some retail therapy 🛍🛍🛍

[Hidden in reply to jacobsmum24]

Wear and tear? Well we certainly can't all be wearing in the same places. Anyone for tennis. Feeble excuse me thinks.

I would say that the alcohol must have numbed mine then. Can honestly say that I feel more like an old man now subject to Cirrhosis & defo not like a new sober man I'm sorry to say. Don't miss it though.

But good luck shopaholic.🤑🤑🤑

[davianne in reply to jacobsmum24]

That sounds like my consultant appointments.........blink, and you miss it😢😢😢

[taylor40plus]

Good luck, my review is in 4 weeks, since being diagnose, lost lots of weight, still feel like crap, but i think that is the needle i do, i be taking Max (Margaret) my partner, thats the best advise i had here, also being supported....