Friend Diagnosed Cirrhosis 50% Gone. What Now?

[jinjok]

a guy in my building is now in pattaya-inter. i told him for about a month it was clear to me he had liver problems. finally, when complaing to his neighbor yesterday- everyone dragged him to hospital.

what is best advice for him, -he is australian with scant funds, but does realize the seriousness of issue.

*NOTE: he stopped drinking about one month ago, but looks no better for it. of course continued drinking im sure maybe hed now be dead. his poison: rotgut mekhong whisky, bottle a day since ive known him. drinker 40 years.

doctor says liver is 50% blowed. i do not know how he came to this conclusion as no biopsy was done. he has fluid build up which doctor wants to somehow drain (his girlfriend informed me). he belly is enlarged and its not from food or beer. he is curretly on salt/sugar drip.

i have not seen his blood work but he looks pretty bad and they had/ve him in icu ward.

doctor informs it is as it is... he will give a script for some 'tablets' and send him on his way.

should he get further treatment at pattaya inter (biopsy). what im worried if they cut him open and decide he needs a liver transplant?! isnt all this better done in oz, dont they have natl med ins? liver transplant (bumrungrad) sort of freaks me out as its so serious...

im sort of worried for him they start running tests and this and that to jack the bill up. at this point i think they either need to get him out of icu, release in day+, finalize tests, do a biopsy or kick his ass out. whats left? he cant linger there at b3000 a day. he simply cant pay that.

i hate to advise him to leave the country as it also means breaking up w/ the girl. shes not a bargirl and actually a pretty decent human being.

what is best advice - hes pretty toast. very yellow, very weak.

thanks

[Mobi]

I hate to say it, but your friend's case sounds pretty hopeless, especially with no money.

A liver transplant is out of the question - even in the west, very few have the chance to get this done.

If he can get on a plane - his best bet is to return to Oz.

If not, maybe you can find a kindly doc, who can treat him with medication. Depending on how far gone he is, there is medication that may allay the condition for a while.

I suggest you post this on this the health forum - you will get more and better informed responses.

[jumnien]

Lots and lots of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings daily in Pattaya and thruout Thailand. Most people are miserable when they stop drinking. AA teaches how to absolutely enjoy life without drinking. He'll meet lots of other people who had deadly liver disease and worse and have overcome their physical and mental problems one day at a time!

[jinjok]

ive reposted this at mobi's suggestion....

a guy in my building is now in pattaya-inter. i told him for about a month it was clear to me he had liver problems. finally, when complaing to his neighbor yesterday- everyone dragged him to hospital.

what is best advice for him, -he is australian with scant funds, but does realize the seriousness of issue.

*NOTE: he stopped drinking about one month ago, but looks no better for it. of course continued drinking im sure maybe hed now be dead. his poison: rotgut mekhong whisky, bottle a day since ive known him. drinker 40 years.

doctor says liver is 50% blowed. i do not know how he came to this conclusion as no biopsy was done. he has fluid build up which doctor wants to somehow drain (his girlfriend informed me). he belly is enlarged and its not from food or beer. he is curretly on salt/sugar drip.

i have not seen his blood work but he looks pretty bad and they had/ve him in icu ward.

doctor informs it is as it is... he will give a script for some 'tablets' and send him on his way.

should he get further treatment at pattaya inter (biopsy). what im worried if they cut him open and decide he needs a liver transplant?! isnt all this better done in oz, dont they have natl med ins? liver transplant (bumrungrad) sort of freaks me out as its so serious...

im sort of worried for him they start running tests and this and that to jack the bill up. at this point i think they either need to get him out of icu, release in day+, finalize tests, do a biopsy or kick his ass out. whats left? he cant linger there at b3000 a day. he simply cant pay that.

i hate to advise him to leave the country as it also means breaking up w/ the girl. shes not a bargirl and actually a pretty decent human being.

what is best advice - hes pretty toast. very yellow, very weak.

thanks

reposted from: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...p;#entry1332628

[jinjok]

thanks. i reposted.

please respond in other forum. thnks for any/all advice.

[Pink Mist]

the liver is a very forgiving organ and 50% isnt hopeless, one of the only organs that regrow completely.

now where does this topic go?

[Pink Mist]

here I guess

[Mobi]

What happened?

I thought this was reposted in the health forum?

It's not there

[Pink Mist]

it will be, bear with me

[bmanly]

jinjok, get him home as soon as possible mate, he can get good treatment in Australia on medicare. He can always come back to Thailand another time, he has to go home for now to get right.

[jinjok]

thanks bmanly, i will recommend this to him and help him to extent he is willing to do this. if he wants to sit around like the last month - up to him.

[Ijustwannateach]

Wherever he winds up, he'll have to stop drinking to save his life. It does sound like he should head home; a change of environments might help the AA process. Sounds like this guy has a lot of good friends, too- he's luckier than he can appreciate right now.

[ding]

AA when he's able, many have Hep C and even cirrosis. If he's going to get on a transplant list he should have a slip signed at each meeting to show that he is in earnest to quit drinking.

The liver regenerates. Try milk thistle, it's not alopathic but widely recognized. Just don't get the China sourced stuff.

Cirrosis is painful, I know one who has it and some that had it. Get out of Thailand or they will ferry you in & out of ICU and give pain meds (which don't help addiction recovery at all).

AA will likely have others who have gone through similar or know of people who can advise better.

There is a collective and compounding wisdom in AA that your mate can tap into.

[Sheryl]

If he doesn't have money and comes from a country with national health insurance then he should indeed head back there. The question is whether or not he is stable enough to travel if he's currently in ICU.

Liver transplant is not in the offing, here or in Oz. He is too high risk at this point for the surgery (risk of hemorrhage) and donated livers are too few to be given to someone who has only stopped drinking for a month.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that the tests etc being done on him now are for the purpose of jacking up the price. The medical problems that accompany alcoholism and cirrhosis are complex and hard to manage and many tests and procedures may indeed be necessary.

Need to tell the hospital upfront that funds are limited and he wants to return to Oz then start discussing when and how he can do so.

By the way it takes considerably more than a month of sobriety to start looking better!

[Sporting Dog]

He needs to get back to Aus and get a good Hepatology Doctor to have a look at him.

I knew a young bloke who was medivacced out of Thailand after a terminal diagnosis of Liver failure due to alcohol - he was given a MONTH to live. Apparently when he got back home it was found that though his liver was damaged, the main problem was sepsis and general poor health (probably results of drinking) - which were treatable.

As far as I know cirrhosis doesn't get better BUT won't get worse if alcohol is stopped. However he sounds a bit sick - jaundice and acsites (the stomach bloating) isn't very good.

Get him back home ASAP, sort out the physiological problems and then deal with the psychological problems caused by stopping drinking.......good luck.

[Trevor]

This guy lost 90 % of his liver and recovered to vibrant health through eating raw animal foods. Yucky, but then if you want to live ...

http://www.wewant2live.com/

http://www.modavox.com/Voiceamericacms/Web...Id=5&Flag=1

Edited June 4, 2007 by Trevor

[mooshcat]

This guy lost 90 % of his liver and recovered to vibrant health through eating raw animal foods. Yucky, but then if you want to live ...

http://www.wewant2live.com/

http://www.modavox.com/Voiceamericacms/Web...Id=5&Flag=1

The last post is quack medicine and should be removed from this serious topic. Trying to sell daft ideas to terminally ill desparate people is one of the lowest forms of making cash.