1st consult questions to ask please

[MrsAlien]

hi, please can someone guide me on which questions to ask? My brother has got his first appointment at Leeds liver Unit next week. He’s got Class C liver cirrhosis, was diagnosed in July as he was decompensated with ascites and hepatic encephalopathy and almost died. He’s seen gastro ONCE since being discharged after being in hospital for two months. I feel like he has been discharged and left to die, so now that I’ve got him in at Leeds, what do I expect and what should I be asking please? Thank you so much in advance x

[DaniellaJayMay]

Hello: sorry to hear about your brother, I can imagine your very worried too I visited Leeds hospital and can I say what a tremendous team they have - they're so accurate and have so much more equipment they will be using to look more detail/investigating into his cirrhosis. Sounds to me that the hospital have referred him to Leeds because they specialize in the liver so he can get the best help and get the answers for him and your family.

With regards to what questions to ask I'm hopeful they will just answer them for you.

I hope this is helpful, I'm not sure on your brothers background so input anything else.

All the best your brother and yourself 😊 x

[MrsAlien in reply to DaniellaJayMay]

This sounds great thanks. I hope

You’re ok and it sounds like they’ve been helpful with you so I’m hopeful.

[DaniellaJayMay in reply to MrsAlien]

It's been a rollercoaster but with the help from the liver unit in Leeds it's made it so much easier for me. No question is a daft question either anything that helps.♥️

[Yellowsydney]

Hi, there is a section on the British liver trust website about questions to ask your doctor, may be worth a read.britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

Hilary x

[MrsAlien in reply to Yellowsydney]

Thank you!!

[Dogbot]

Hi the wife and I kept a pen and notebook with us and every time we thought of a question we wanted to know about we wrote it down so when we were talking to the doctor we had a list. We found this very helpful and it surprised us that the doctors were quite happy to help with every question, even during the night. We wish you all the luck both of you because it is a hard journey for the person with the disease as it is for the carer 💕💕.

Stay safe All

Dogbot 🐶🌈Dave

[MrsAlien in reply to Dogbot]

Thanks for this suggestion! Hope You’re all doing Ok x

[AyrshireK]

First appointment is going to be a history collecting exercise so make sure you have notes on his current meds including doses, symptoms present or things that are causing concern and then your questions. Jot down a little bit of back story so you can go through it methodically.

Diet is very important with liver disease so it would be worth asking to see a dietician to get a proper dietary work up, if they think transplant is likely to be on the cards then he'll need to be properly nourished for that and will provide proper eating advice and may even prescribe supplementary drinks if required.

[MrsAlien in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you for this! The hospital assigned him a dietician and it took two months for them to call him, to tell him eat what you want hahaha!!!!!! Absolute joke! I’m holding they advise him better here . I’ll

Take a list of meds with us. Thank you!

[Chrisjohnsy]

He should be having blood tests every month to check for bleeding.... endoscopy's done regularly and seeing the consultant every 3 months