is this possible?

[Tortoise57]

My son died at the age of 36 in the USA in September 2023. He had been alcohol dependent but had finally managed to stop drinking a month before, and his liver results were steadily improving . He woke up one Sunday bright yellow but feeling fine and it took his wife 48 hours to persuade him to go to the hospital, where he was immediately admitted. I don’t have access to many of the medical test results but it seems his bilirubin levels were increasing although liver scans didn’t show any abnormalities. They slowed down his bilirubin increases and sent him home on the Saturday with instructions on healthy eating and exercise, which he followed. The following Thursday he had a major nose bleed and we persuaded him to go back to the hospital to get it checked out. We were told we were over reacting but they would do blood tests anyway- and 20 minutes later he was admitted as an emergency as his kidneys had failed over the intervening 5 days. He was then treated for end stage liver disease and passed away 8 days later.

Is this a normal time period (23 days) for the disease to run, and is kidney failure something that happens? Someone has suggested that it may have been undiagnosed sepsis rather than liver disease and now I just don’t know what to think. Any thoughts / advice would be so helpful.

Thank you.

[RugbyMama]

Firstly I am so terribly sorry for your loss. It must be very hard for you, especially not being there and not having all the answers.

None of us here are doctors and without knowing all the ins and outs there is simply no way to tell how badly damaged his liver was.

Jaundice as you describe is a bad sign. Bilirubin is normally filtered out by the liver and when the liver cannot function well enough to do this, it spills out into the bloodstream and into the skin and eyes causing jaundice. It's a medical emergency so not getting treatment for it could have caused damage.

There is a form of kidney failure that can come on very suddenly in patients with advanced liver disease.

[BritishLiverTrust8 Moderator British Liver Trust]

Dear Tortoise57

We're so sad to read this and we so sorry for your loss.

If you (are in the UK and) would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm on 0800 652 7330 (excluding bank holidays)

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[looby24]

I'm so sorry. I hope the hospital can provide some information. I imagine it's hard to be unsure about what happened, on top of your loss.