Hi all,I realise this might be a hard subject for some...me too.
My husband has had Cirrohsis since 2014, and we are thankfully still at compensated Child Pugh A. He can still work, is active etc. Cause is unknown, but it not alcohol related and he has been tee total for many years now.
He wants us to buy a new home, which requires us to take out more of a loan. I'm scared as Dr Google says life expectancy is 2 - 12 years. I know this is a median, but my brain still thinks he is 2 years away from things declining rapidly.
So two questions, is it possible to live longer than the 12 years? And do you think borrowing more on our mortgage is a bad idea?
Thank you.
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Lili6
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In the UK, he has had multiple tests but he most likely falls into the 'cause unknown' category. He has multiple other health issues, so it could be linked.
H i Lilli6 I was diagnosed in 2008 ,22nd June with end stage liver cirrhosis, very poorly in hospital 6 weeks having multiple drains for ascites
With hard work, alcohol abstinence, good diet ( obviously still having treats) gave up smoking, worked until 2011 to then become ft carer to my dad with cancer ( he sadly died in 2012 )
I've been compensated since 2010 I did relapse after my dad died as he was my rock, took me a couple of years to drag myself back out of the dark hole I was in ,but im still here, 16 yrs since diagnosed child pugh score A have been stable liver wise for a long time.
Drs can't put a time scale on how long a person can live with the disease its an individual thing I suppose, so please stay away from Google, it just gives you so many mixed messages.
I'm going on holiday next week 🙂.
flying on my own but meeting a friend the following day from this forum actually ,they fly out the next day .
Life is for living ,non of us know how long we have to live regardless so live your lives
Live life to the fullest. The alternative is waiting to die. I’ve been fully compensated for approximately two and a half years; but can honestly say I am happier and lived more than the prior 20 years when drinking alcohol. Quality of life trumps quantity. Gastroenterologist is amazed at the transformation. I’ll pray for you. God bless you and yours.
In coma in 2018, alcohol related liver failure. Still here, doing all the things I need and want to do. Have read similar Dr Google expectancy stats so fully share your thought process. It’s human nature to be curious over such an important subject but as recommended already…. Just get on with it…. Something else could get any of us any time! Sincerely good luck and enjoy every moment, C
Looking at your older posts your aged mid 30s so it's understandable you want to move up the housing ladder.My advice is if you can't get life insurance AND loss of income insurance you should be very wary of increased debt.
If his income stopped could you afford the payments?
If his income stopped and you had to give up work to be his carer?
As far as I know there's no mortgage payment help on benefits.
I don't know how mortgages work if you are adding to your mortgage - does it mean you'll need to renew your life insurance/critical illness cover because that can be difficult if you have a pre-existing condition? If down the line he were forced to stop work or become more seriously ill this mortgage protection (might) kick in but it may not.
Obviously you don't want to over stretch your budget and becoming a carer to him is definitely something you do need to consider (hopefully it won't come to that but you never know what can lead to a deterioration in the liver even though it's ticking along nicely just now).
My hubby was diagnosed in 2012 and has never been able to work again due to fatigue, confusion, concentration issues (minor HE). I am self-employed plus held down a regular volunteering post with the police. Sadly, in the past two years his health has deteriorated meaning he became ever more dependent so my volunteering post had to go in 2022 and in the past 6 months he's become so ill that he is totally dependendent on 24/7 care (owing to struggles with severe hepatic encephalopathy) and is now on the transplant waiting list. As a result I am now his full time carer and my business has had to be put on the back burner. We rent and don't have a family but are having to live on savings just now (hubby is also on PIP and I receive carers allowance).
Hopefully your hubby can tick along for many years in his stable state but make sure you are covered in the event of a deterioration should it happen.
This is a tough subject. In 1972, my father was diagnosed with Cirrhosis; he drank and smoked every day until he passed in 1992 from complications of diabetes.
My Brother decided to kill himself by drinking. It took him nearly ten years to do it.
If I am to believe doctors, if you followed my story. My wife was diagnosed with Nash F3 in November 2020, which had regressed to NASH F1 by June 2021. (Biopsys proven) And passed in Jan of 2023. Before being diagnosed with Fatty liver in Sept of 2020. All prior tests over the years showed no fatty liver. The cause of her fatty liver was given as rapid on-set NASH caused by rapid weight loss from COVID-19. She was a non-drinker, ate a healthy diet, and was physically fit and healthy. To this day, we do not know the true cause of death.
But our family doctor, when we told him the Hospital said she had cirrhosis, said, don't worry. It's a manageable disease, and he has patients who are 20+ years cirrhotic.
To me, it sounds like the situation is doing very well and is stable. And can remain stable for a very long time.
Take out the mortgage and just live a healthy life and you should be okay.
I am NOT a doctor but my theory about life expectancy is "when diagnosed". The average life expectancy is what now? 80? Let me use that number because it is round, etc. Since most people (you seem to be a rare exception) diagnosed in their 50s and 60s, of course their life expectance will be in the 12-15 year range because, well, if you are 62, it is not surprising that you die at 77 years of age - cirrhosis or no cirrhosis.
I hope that makes sense.
Put another way, the life expectancy is meant for "older sick-with-cirrhosis" people. Plenty of people (as has been said in this thread) have lived for 20 plus years and medicine keeps improving every year.
It’s very true what Kensimmons has said. Living 20 years when you’re diagnosed at 60 is a normal average life expectancy.
If you’re diagnosed a lot younger the treatment and reviews mean a far longer expectancy than that as you have age on your side for one thing. I was diagnosed 2 years ago at 55 with cirrhosis. No symptoms, found by complete chance after having blood tests for HRT. I went on Dr Google and thought I really hadn’t got long left. However, after going on this site, I realise that I can carry on as before, 6 monthly checks and expect to live a normal life. My cirrhosis is categorised as cryptogenic(no known cause). I still feel no different and who’s to say how long I’d had I’d before diagnosis.
Life is definitely for living. I am not sure how you would go about getting life cover/critical illness cover for the extra mortgage, but you may be able to cover that in your own right. It might be worth getting some financial advice on that.
I really hope you can carry on fulfilling your dreams. All my sincerest best wishes on a continued happy and healthy future.
hi, well the docs put me on a pallative care pathway 2 years ago and i had a Decompsated Liver. No one expected me to live, but i fought hard as i could constanly eating every 2 hours high in protien an now i have a compensated liver. At first tgey said i needed a transpkant but i was too ill to recieve one, so i continued to fight now they i saying i dont even need a transplant and dictors think i may due niw at 60ish (i was 41 at the time im 43 now). So keep on fighting i know sometimes you get tired of fighting and you think u cant do more, but just take each day as it comes, good luck x
I am in the same boat with my husband. To give you more perspective, he was also diagnosed in 2014 via ultrasound with fatty liver, alcohol related. He continued on (drinking) and was diagnosed in 2022 with Cirrhosis via biopsy. His primary care physician gave him 2 years of survival. His cardiologist flat out told him he was “going to die”. However, his liver specialist says that yes, likely around 12 years at his continued rate of deterioration. He is still compensated. (It’s almost as if they both read Dr. Google!). IF he quit drinking, and he isn’t going to at this point, his time would likely be longer. So you do need to understand why his liver is struggling and adjust as much as possible, lifestyle and perhaps diet around that. With the drinking, my husband’s liver will continue on a downhill trend.
The best advice I can give from this perspective is to have affairs in order, like Wills and such. You don’t indicate his age, but as a female “survivor” I do believe it is important to plan how you would survive (both of you) without your spouse. If your home is your refuge, and you would absolutely want to continue on in it, plan how either of you would manage at the loss of the other. If taking a second mortgage out means you couldn’t do that, I would be hesitant.
I think you will hear both sides of the track here. People who survived well beyond the expectation, and people who didn’t do well at all. Wish I had a better answer for both of us!
Drs can't always determine the underlying cause of liver cirrhosis, when I was first diagnosed they told me it was hereditary because my Dad was an alcoholic and died from liver cirrhosis. I don't drink alcohol. Couple of years went by and I got overweight, they started telling me I got it because I was obese. I wasn't obese when I first got it. Recently I read an article that says that if you have insomnia, lack of sleep can damage the 5 organs, this is what they eventually decided was the cause. As for life expectancy, Dr Google isn't really a good authority, it depends on the individual and their committment to leading a healthy life. I am now post transplant 1.5 years, looking back I worried too much when I was first diagnosed, reading all those internet statistics, I allowed it to impact my life, I felt sorry for myself and I withdrew and wasted a lot of my life pre-transplant, it took 14 years before my liver eventually failed, and pre-transplant, before I had ascites, I was better off than post transplant. Post transplant, you have take anti rejection and immuno suppression for life and everytime you start to feel better, they increase your dosage. Enjoy life while you are still compensated with your own liver.
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