January 25, 2013

• Good news and not so good news.

   

  

  Yesterday, Danny had an appointment that had us both nervous.  His appointment was with the specialist who is treating his liver.  I’ll just call him Dr. K.

  If you don’t know, Danny almost died of liver failure last May and it has been a long road to recovery.  This appointment was so important as Dr. K. was going to give us an update on Danny’s progress.

  Dr. K. started off saying that the liver has shown improvement!  Whew…great news.  It is amazing, but the liver is the one organ that can regenerate itself…up to a point.  You just have to stop throwing poisons, such as alcohol, at the liver and it can renew.  Dr. K. feels this is what’s happening.

  Then, the not so good news.  Dr. K. said some of the tests in the blood work indicated the need for Danny to have a CT Scan.  He wants to rule out liver cancer as the reason for the elevations in the blood work.  I watched Danny’s face and quickly asked the doctor what the chances were that Danny had cancer.  He smiled and said the chances were minimal based on the way the liver was improving…but it was better to be safe than sorry.  Calmed Danny down, thank goodness, but I know that he will worry until we get the results. 

  The next news was not so good for Danny but good for me!  Danny is almost 60 and has never had a colonostomy. Well, next week he has to endure the procedure I call the “Up Periscope.”  I have been worried that his VA doctor has never ordered one so this will eliminate that problem.  Also, Danny has complained about stomach aches rather frequently so the “up periscope” will eliminate any problems that his bowels might be having!

  Finally, Dr. K. discussed treatment for the Hepatis C.  He does not recommend it at this time due to the high number of side effects the medicine creates.  I have done a lot of research on Hepatis C treatments and was afraid to tell Danny about the side effects.  I planned on letting Dr. K. handle that one.  Dr. K. said that in two years, there will be a treatment available that will not have the side effects, but it was up to Danny.  Danny chose to wait…he has enough to handle without adding depression, constant fatigue and many other side effects.  So I’ve dodged the bullet for now!

  Before we left, Danny asked the doctor when he could get a new liver.  Dr. K. started smiling and said, “You don’t need a new liver.  Just take care of the one you’ve got!”  I did the happy dance all the way out of the building, and I know Danny feels more positive too.

  So, although Danny will be worried about the CT scan, I feel that everything will be o.k.  And, until I’m told otherwise, I will continue to do the happy dance!

   

  • 7:20 am
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