Thursday, July 2, 2009

acute liver failure

my mom saw the liver specialist on tuesday and found out that based on all of her tests/labs/etc... that she is in "acute liver failure". the doctor enrolled her in a national institute of health case study for drug overdoses --- the drug she was taking, amiodarone, to help keep her heart from going into a-fib, poisoned her liver and has caused her liver to swell and her liver enzymes to be dangerously high. there is no known way to reverse this with medicine, it has to "run its course" and we have to "wait and see" when she will get better. the drug can stay in your system for up to 60 days. this is causing additional problems because my mom keeps going in and out of 'a-fib' and she cannot take medicine for this problem. a-fib is dangerous because it could lead to a heart attack or stroke. my mom also has to take a different blood thinner, which has to be given in shot form in her stomach, because coumadin (blood thinner she was on before the liver issues began) is processed in the liver and her liver cannot handle any additional stress at this time. through all of this, my mom is not able to do her cardiac rehab therapy and is also trying to recover from her post surgery bout with pneumonia in both lungs not to mention the actual open-heart surgery. i went to see my mom yesterday with the girls and she just was not doing well. she feels sick, cannot eat, is having pain in her back and stomach and overall just feels terrible. i think the only thing that can help is time and prayers - so please say an extra prayer, if you could, that her liver makes a full recovery and that she is feeling better soon, so that she can get on with the business of recovering from her open-heart surgery. thank you for all of your continued prayers. hopefully i will have better news about my mom's health soon!!!!!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laura,
I am so sorry about all the
health problems for your Mom.
She is in our prayers and
we will call the Carmelites
of NY and contact Fr. Reidman
who is known for healing prayers.
We will be in Colorado
from July 2-7 but will check
our email.
God bless you all. Love, Aunt Kathy

Ellen said...

This is so incredibly rough. I can't believe it. Prayers, thoughts, hugs to all of you.

Rebecca said...

Laura, I'm so sorry you all are going through this right now. I will pray for all of you, but especially for healing for Mary Alice.

Unknown said...

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. Please know that you have many friends out there in bloggy land, praying for all of your family.

Cheryl said...

I will continue to pray for your Mom.

Kelli said...

Oh my, I am so sorry to hear she is having to deal with so many problems all at once. We will continue to pray for your family.

Unknown said...

We are thinking of you, wishing there was some other support we could give you all. What a rough year you've had and how strong you've been! We are pulling for your mom's recovery and that she feels better very soon -

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry that your mom isn't feeling well. We will continue to pray for her!

Love, Laurie

Michelle said...

oh my! I can't believe that your mom is now dealing with this too! Continued prayers!

Lisa said...

Your mom and your entire family are in our thoughts and hearts...

John and Leo said...

You are not walking this path alone, there are many people from our family walking every step of the way with you in Spirit. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Hang in there and keep the faith.
Love,
John & Leo