what does the term mediun life expectancy of 15 years mean ?

[Etymolog]

hi hope you’re all well.

I’m constantly being told that if I stay compensated then I have a mediun life expectancy of 15 years and he stresses the mediun bit . What does that mean please.

also at my last endoscopy my two small varices apparently looked better but my new consultant prescribed an anti inflammatory he said for my stomach but didn’t explain why this would help any ideas please ? Thank you

[JHutton1994]

That means the average. Some live longer, some don't.

[AyrshireK]

Just concentrate on living your best life - median is a mid point - a guesstimate. Some compensated livers will go on for years and years beyond that quoted figure, others maybe less so. No one can tell how long it'll last because things such as an infection can tip it into decompensated. My hubby was ticking along nicely at 13+ years post diagnosis until wham it suddenly started going down hill leading to t/p.

No one is guaranteed a tomorrow so make the most of every good day.

Katie

[BritishLiverTrust14 Moderator]

Dear Etymolog,

If you would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday 9am to 3pm and Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm on 0800 652 7330 excluding bank holidays.

We also facilitate a range of virtual support groups for people in the UK living with a liver condition (and their families and carers). If you would find it helpful to speak to others with shared experience, you can register to join a group here:

britishlivertrust.org.uk/vi...

Best wishes,

British Liver Trust

[Robert1981]

median is mid point, and so if 99 people lined up in order of height, whoever was in 50th position (height) would be classed as the median. Note this is different to mean/average which gets dragged up or down if a load of short or tall people in the line in this example

[QuietButBold]

I would interpret this comment about the median being 15 years; as meaning: that people doing the recommended things in support of their liver health would statistically give themselves the opportunity to be in the 50% of people living over 15 years.

I get frustrated if healthcare professionals say important things - without checking their patient has fully understood big news. (A helpful professional could have asked you to explain the situation back to them - just to double-check when your understanding is important - my GP has sometimes done that if we were talking about essential new information.

If something sounds like important news, and I am feeling stressed / overwhelmed, I don't mind admitting that sometimes I like to make use of one of these tactics:

- repeating back to the professional; what I thought or worried about it this way: "What I heard you say is ...(my own version of the sentences they used), have I got that correct please?"),

- or, if I am more upset about things, I am unwell, or I had to attend an important appointment on my own when there was a lot of complicated information; I write down in my notebook what I thought they said, then I show the person, and just nod and ask them: "Yes?" (so they can correct me, if necessary).

[NorbertGrubbins in reply to QuietButBold]

This is a wonderful post - perhaps it could be printed and given to all patients going for a health appointment 🙂 thank you