Any one relate?

[Melissa87]

Hi guys, my brother is currently in HDU in a hospital in London (as he lives in London) however I live in South Wales.

He was reluctantly admitted 3 weeks ago when his step dad took him to a&e due to what they said at the time was trouble breathing, shortness of breath. Unbeknown to me he’s an alcoholic. Since somehow walking in to a&e his health rapidly deteriorated and he was put on a ventilator and sedated. After numerous test it was confirmed he had pneumonia and a severely damaged liver due to alcohol abuse over many years.

In the 3 weeks he’s made steady progress- he’s now in hdu not icu, he’s no longer on the ventilator or having any o2 and the pneumonia has cleared.

However his mental state of mind is a worrying factor. He’s very confused, not recognising family and his speech is very limited. The doctors have explained that this situation is due to the liver being as severely damaged as it is, and is not uncommon. Due to the distance I’ve only managed to see my brother once since he’s been admitted but I get daily updates. The updates have been of a consistent level of progress even to say his colour is improving but not his mental health? The doctor did a scan yesterday and have said that his brain is smaller than it should be but they can’t see no permanent damage.

Can anyone relate to this situation?

Will his liver ever be able to remove toxins that are currently not being removed causing an ammonia overdose in his brain?

Thank you for reading ❤️

[Laura009]

I have replied privately

[Hidden]

Good morning,

This is a difficult situation to be in, particularly when you live so far away from your brother. It may be helpful for you to read some of our publications on alcohol related liver disease, cirrhosis and also something called hepatic encephalopathy - confusion caused by excess toxins in the body. here are the links:

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

May I also suggest calling our free helpline, you could talk to one of our liver specialist nurses. 0800 652 7330 Mon - Fri 10:00 - 15:00

regards

[SRE3]

Hi the HE is very distressing for relatives but my husband has had 2 severe episodes each one requiring a month in hospital. Last time he lost all speech and had no recognition, the nurses persevered with enemas and lactose and he did eventually recover! He still has difficulty retaining new information but I find if I reinforce and repeat numerous times he eventually retains it. He’s now on long term rifaxamin and lactoluse and although we have days of what I would describe as vagueness he says he feels out of it overall it is manageable. Don’t give up on him just support as much as you can the confusion is more difficult for us to deal but I had a chat with the consultant who explained how HE affects people differently and what to look out for. X

[Melissa87]

Thank you all for your reply’s. Xx