To panic, or not to panic!

[Lili6]

Hello,My husband was diagnosed in 2014. After much advocating, we finally have a consultant that is following up with 6 monthly ultrasounds, bloods and appointments. He had an endoscopy (after 3 years) in January. We are very pleased.

One of the things we have never established is root cause of the condition, and today, out of the blue, we have had a letter for:

CT Liver triple phase

CT abdomen with contrast

CT abdomen

Is this standard for investigating chirrosis, or should I be (as I am) in a blind panic that they have found something more sinister?

Thanks for reading.

[Ewife]

Hello there! I would have thought these are just standard so that the consultant can build up a picture and then monitor any progression from now on. He will have a canular put in and they will put a dye through so that it shows a clear picture of things like blood flow.Obviously if there was any suspicious lumps and bumps it would pick these up, and they will look for any clots caused by poor flow etc. Whilst scary for you, its much better to know these things than not too!!

I can't remember how often my husband would have CT, ultrasound and endoscopy - it felt like all the time, but it was all fairly routine.

Hope this helps,

Atb

Ewife

[0range5520]

Hello,

I am just curious as to why your husband was left 11 years without a follow up with a consultant. I know many things have to be chased up, but I thought someone would have been analysing the scans.,

[Lili6 in reply to 0range5520]

Hello!

He has had really inconsistent care over the last 11 years, we have been forgotten, referred back to the GP, etc....Perhaps my working was wrong. We have been seen sporadically over the last 11 years. We have now finally pushed for him to be seen by a liver specialist and his new Consultant's primary concern was that despite numerous tests, we still don't know what caused his liver cirrhosis in the first place. We also know he has portal vein thrombosis.

The new consultant suggested a liver biopsy to look into things more, My husband freaked out, as he had a traumatic splenectomy in 2006 where he ended up in intensive care for months. He wants to avoid invasive procedures as long as he can. We wonder if this scan is to get a better look at what is going on without him having a biopsy.

Thank you for your reply.