Wednesday March 28

 Today I went to the University of Utah Liver Transplant clinic. To be honest I was worried that it would be another useless appointment. I WAS SO WRONG! I love this clinic, the doctors, and all the staff! This is the first time I walked away with the knowledge of whats going on, what needs to be done, what will happen, and what to expect from the clinic, my appointments. The clinic is unsure though exactly what stage I am in. Either I am at stage 3, early stage 4, or in between the two.  Here is a picture of the different stages.

So after a 3 hour appointment I walked away a very satisfied lady. Monday I will be have a CT scan of my abdomen and Liver to try to see exactly what stage I am in and how much if Cirrhosis. The scan will also look for liver cancer. My biopsy did come back negative for that though so I am not worried. The doctor could feel all of my liver when she examined me. I have been uncomfortable most days with about 3 days a week being really uncomfortable.  Next week on the 13th I will be going to the Cardiologist to get some testing done on my heart. They did a EKG today. 

So I walked away with a PLAN.... I walked away with confidence I was going to be cared for. 

I need to stay away from sugar, complex carbs, and eat only full whole grain breads and pasta's. I need to up my intake of fresh vegetables and fruit. Not to bad. I have already been doing well in this area. I have lost about 20 lbs since November. It is frustrating though because I am not losing any in my midsection.....

Some things I learned....

 I was going to have a hysterectomy in May due to some uterine issues and the fact that I can not have anymore children due to the disease. They said if I was to get pregnant it would most likely kill me and the baby. I have not dealt with this yet on a emotional level I am trying to just push it out of my head. So anyways my last gastroenterologist said that it would not be an issue to get the surgery so I was planning on scheduling it soon.

 The transplant clinic said absolutely not (at least not for now) They let me know that abdominal surgery is very dangerous for people with advanced liver disease. It could throw me into liver failure.

 I AM GLAD I DECIDED TO GET A SECOND OPINION

I also was told to take no Tylenol at all. To take ibuprofen.

Again this is wrong. Ib is very bad due to the bleeding it can cause. So I was told to take Tylenol just no more then 2 grams a day. 

I was really excited about a liver function test finally being in the normal range. I told my doctor how excited I was about this and she agreed. Well this is how my new doctor explained it to me

 when your liver is under stress the cells open up and let out a hormone. The hormone then shows up in your blood tests to show there is damage being caused. Well the fact the my test was in the normal range is BAD. It means my liver is so scarred there are little cells left to even cause the hormone to be released anatomy blood. 

 So I am happy I decided to go to the U. I finally feel like I will be taken care of and get all the help and encouragement I need.