Living With Stage 4 Cirrhosis

I walked into the doctor's office to get the results of my biopsy, blood work, ultasound, and fibroscan nearly a year ago. At that time I had fatty liver disease and fibrosis of the liver. I didn't expect any dramatic changes because I felt fine at the time, nothing seemed drastically wrong. I left my husband outside in the van cause he hates sitting in the doctor's office. My name was called and I was led to a very nice room to await the doctor.

I'm sitting there not really worried because I thought I was going to hear that there was no new changes. I was wrong. My doctor turns the screen and tells me that he has something he wants to show me about my results. I'm thinking okay I get to look at the results on screen. I truthfully couldn't tell what I was supposed to be looking at. He gets out this model and says this is what a healthy liver looks like and has me touch the model and said to me can you feel how smooth it is? Next he takes out another model and said this is what a liver with cirrhosis looks like. Do you see how rough and bumpy it looks?

My doctor turns the computer screen back towards me and said to me that my fibrosis of the liver had crossed over into cirrhosis. I was stunned and immediately said "How could this happen? I don't drink." I got a crash course in the facts of what they know about cirrhosis. I left the office with all kinds of reports, follow up appointments, and life style changes. I was very upset. I didn't understand what was happening to me.

The next set of appointments included another set of ultrasounds, fibroscan, blood work and a biopsy to see what grade and stage my liver was in. Stage and grade show the doctor how damaged your liver is and if it is affecting other organs. This time I brought my husband to the appointment for basically moral support. The results were worse than I was prepared to hear. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Grade 3 cirrhosis. I was devastated!

Stage 4 Grade 3 cirrhosis is end stage and life expectancy is only one to two years without a liver transplant. All I heard was "You are going to die!" Again I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. I felt like my life flashed before my eyes. I wasn't ready to leave this life and go quietly into the night. If I was checking out I was going to go out kicking and screaming!

I worked right full time as a cashier until my body was getting to weak and run down to do the job. I was approved for disability through work but soon realized it was unpaid leave. I didn't give up. I kicked my determination into overdrive. I went to American Liver Foundation and started asking questions about my diagnoses. The American Liver Foundation was an incredible source of information! Here's the link https://liverfoundation.org/

Checking out information online was a huge help. I researched diet, life style changes, exercise, treatment, and life expectancy and it gave me hope. A diagnoses of cirrhosis doesn't have to be a death sentence! I need to lose weight, change my diet to a higher protein diet, develop an exercise plan that works for my condition, and keep positive until I qualify for a new liver. Staying positive is a key point for me.