How bad is this? (Liver cirrhosis)

[DorothyL]

My brother is in hospital. He has a very troubled relationship with all his family and won't tell us what's wrong, but what is visible is that his face is yellow and that he had fluid drained from his stomach. So we think liver disease, which would be plausible considering his alcohol abuse over the years.
My question is, is there any coming back from this, any hope? My heart aches for his poor children who've been through so much already.

My BIL is an alcoholic and has cirrhosis of the liver. He no longer drinks, but the damage is done. He now only has 20% function of the liver. At this point there is no coming back (for BIL anyway).

The liver can't process the toxins in his body and now has alcohol induced encephalopathy which has resulted in permanent brain damage. He has been in permanent residential care now for several years and behaves like someone with advanced dementia.

His children hate him and have no respect for him.

I apologise for the bleak picture, but this is the harsh reality of lengthy and sustained alcohol abuse.

Did the encephalopathy occur after he had stopped drinking?

I couldn't say. They live 150 miles away so I don't see them very often. I don't see BIL at all now.

No I don't think so unfortunately 😒.

My dad died of cirrhosis of the liver and by the time he was in a position where he had fluid drained from his stomach he was pretty much near the end. I'm sorry to say this.

Oh god

He's not 50 yet

I remember visiting my friend's mum in hospital about 20 years ago. She was a tiny bird-like woman in her late 60s who had drunk daily for many years. She was skeletal, bright yellow, had many litres of fluid drained from her abdomen and had bled from oesophageal varices. I didn't think I would ever see her again.

She stopped drinking and turned 88 recently. She does have to go to hospital recently to have the varices treated, but she's ok and still living an idependent life and getting around.

I imagine she's a rare case, and I suspect her tiny (under 5ft) frame has helped her cope with a limited liver function.

*regularly not recently

Thank you!

What about liver transplant? He might put on the transplant list.

@KingIrving they do not consider alcoholics for liver transplants as there's no guarantee they won't destroy that one too, whilst non-alcoholics are also waiting for a liver.

An alcoholic would have to prove they are clean and sober for a certain length of time first.

www.britishlivertrust.org.uk/patients-unable-give-alcohol-refused-liver-transplants/

Hum, in that case, if the OP is compatible with her brother she might donate a portion of her liver. Hers will grow back and he will have a second chance . More for the kids probably .

BIL was put on the transplant list because he had stopped drinking. However, after a brain scan it was determined that the brain damage incurred couldn't justify it. He was given 5 years to live, but has outlived that by several years.

Have to agree with lonicera. I'm sorry to have to say this but once ascitic fluid starts to need to be drained the patient usually has around two year to live. It doesn't sound like he would be a candidate for transplant either.

He was given 5 years to live, but has outlived that by several years.

So a teeny bit of hope?

My dad was diagnosed with cirrhosis after a burst varisces in his oesophagus. He was very very lucky to survive that but had no real symptoms up to that point. He was a long term heavy drinker of lager but I wouldn't have put him in the alcoholic bracket but it depends what you call an alcoholic I suppose. I never really noticed him drunk and he never drunk at home.

Anyway he was diagnosed then lived a good twelve years of a decent quality of life teetotal . He was assessed for transplant and was put on the list but they didn't put you on the urgent list back then (ten years ago) until they thought you had less than a year to live. I don't know if the rules have changed now.

In his last couple of years it was awful. He started to get more and more problems the major one of which was ascites. He'd be I hospital every two weeks getting fluid drained.

Anyway he died before a liver became available.

My brother was diagnosed with LC at the age of 38. He was on the waiting list for a new liver. The last time he went into hospital They drained too much fluid from his kidneys and damaged them useless.

He passed away 4 years ago at the age of 48. He left behind two small children.

I really do hope your brother has a long life ahead of him. Everyone’s story is different.

Namechanged (obviously) but I have to say some people DO come back from this and I’m one of the lucky ones.

5.5 years ago I was admitted to hospital, yellow, bloated with ascites and underweight. They drained 11 litres of fluid from my poor body. I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

I never drank again. I spent time on various meds but am now off all medication, my liver function blood tests are normal and a recent fibroscan showed that although my liver is scarred, it’s functioning well and there’s no reason to expect I will die earlier than anyone else my age (the consultants words).

I have been extremely lucky. I hope your brother is too. Looking back I can’t believe what I did to myself but I’m so grateful to still be here.

Very good wishes from me.

How’s your brother @DorothyL ? More to the point, how are you?

My partner was 34, he drank when i met him when he was 30 but didnt drink every day, just a few 2 or 3 times a week, over the space of a year his drinking increased to him drinking every day & not just at night, (the first thing he did in a morning was go in the fridge for a can) He had mh problems due to his childhood & his children to his ex partner. At first he didnt have any health problems relating to his drinking but as time went on he started to have the shakes & mood swings, he had to drink more to get the feeling he liked drinking for. When he changed doctors he had routine blood tests which showed raised liver levels, he was sent for an ultrasound that showed he had a slightly fatty liver. A few months later he badly broke the top half of his arm, he needed to have it pinned but refused due to a fear of hospital, he was in plaster for 3 months, the pain he was in was indescribable, during this time he overdosed 3 times on painkillers (Not paracetamol) eventually his arm healed. Within a couple of months his stomach started swelling & over the course of a week he looked as if he was expecting twins, I made him go to the doctors & he got an urgent referral to see a liver specialist, when we went to see her she diagnosed Cirrhosis of the liver, she wanted him to be admitted straight away for detox & to have the Ascites drained, he refused to be admitted but asked for community detox, we couldn't get a community detox so he started to cut down & saw the drug & alcohol counselling team every week, he had his Ascites drained as a day case, they drained over 7 litres of fluid, the consultant confirmed he had stage 4 cirrhosis. He was still drinking even though he had cut down, he had memory problems, was turning yellow, he had problems eating & often vomited after having a meal, his mood swings got worse & a couple of times he got violent. His health got worse & by now had moved out from living with me & got a flat, his dad managed to persuade him to go into hospital, the weekend before he was going in he rang me to say he hadn't been for a wee for nearly 24 hours, he thought that it was because he hadn't felt like having a drink. He promised me that he was going to stop drinking & that he would be better by April, we were due to get married then, he went to hospital on the Monday as planned & was admitted, the next morning his dad was told he had less than 48 hours to live, his kidneys were failing & his liver was dead. He was still alive on the Friday morning & the doctors rated his chances of survival as 50:50, later that night he had an alcoholic seizure & was put on a ventilator, they weaned him off the ventilator on the Sunday morning & by the afternoon he was sat up in bed cleaning his teeth, the doctors discussed starting detox treatment & the possibility of him being able to go home within a couple of weeks, on the Monday morning he started having breathing problems & coughing up blood, everyone was called to the hospital, his lungs were filling up with blood, nothing more could be done for him. He passed away in the afternoon aged 34.

That was nearly 4 years ago & I'm still heartbroken now, I still feel guilty that I didn't try harder to help him.