Beginning August 21, 2009

Im now going to back track and bring this blog from the August 21 to now using emails sent out to the family.

HI Everyone,

I have just come from the hospital.Mike is awake and alert and talking to me normally. He is in a regular room, not icu. His condition is very complicated. I will try to simplify it. He has severely damaged his liver by daily alcohol intake, for many years, with a few breaks for sobriety.  He has been methodically drinking large amounts of alcohol since he moved out of our house a year and a half ago. His liver is very enlarged and functioning minimally. However, the liver does have the capacity to regenerate. If he chooses, he can recover from this, if not completely, perhaps to some extent. He knows he cant survive without a liver.  He says he is ready to go into treatment for his alcoholism. The hospital staff are working with him to get him into a program. All we can do now is wait and see.

His condition has improved dramatically from when he was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night. When the ER staff saw him walk through the door as yellow as a pumpkin, they grabbed him and started immediate care. It is amazing what modern medicine can do. The jaundice has subsided dramatically. Now if Mike will decide to get well, he most likely can to some extent. If not.. well...

I have been at the hospital all day so that I could have key conversations with the doctors and with Dan. It was important that I be there to discuss his condition with the doctors and then interpret what I heard to him and the family. I am weary and not up for any phone calls.(Erin excepted) Feel free to email me and I will read your emails when I am up to it.

Needless to say, Frank and I are very disappointed to miss the gathering. We have been looking forward to it for some time. I hope this doesnt put a damper on the festivities.

We play the cards that are dealt us. Thats all we can do.

Love,

Sal

Michael my son has acute alcoholic liver syndrome

Michael my 43 year old son. He is hospitalized with acute alcoholic liver syndrome. This is his second hospitalization in less than a month. His liver has been taking a beating for a good part of his life. It finally could not compensate for his's excessive alcohol intake.
This blog is to keep people posted on how Mike and I and my husband Frank are doing.
 The first hospitalization came when we were visiting family in Northern California. We live in Southern California. Mike called us to say he was in the hospital with jaundice, and liver failure. Up to the day he was admitted to the hospital, he had been working  for a large company. He was able to do his job very well, in spite of his alcoholism.  His fellow workers urged him to go to the doctor one day when he came into the office looking very very yellow with a very distended stomach. He went home and fell into an exhausted sleep. When he woke up it was too late to call the doctor. He was told to go to the emergency room. When he walked in, they immediately put him in on a gurney and began treating his disease. They told him he would be admitted to the hospital. His response was, 'why?' He had become so disconnected from his body that he ignored his symptoms. It took urging from his fellow workers to get him to go in for treatment. 
After receiving his phone call,  my husband and I immediately drove home to be by his side. He stayed in the hospital a week then was discharged. We offered to have him stay with us so that we could take care of him. But he preferred to return to his condo .During the time he was home he was very weak. His abdomen is very distended. He is very jaundiced. And he was barely able to take care of himself. When he went to the store for food, he could hardly make it through the store and the checkout line. Im sure he attracted attention as he leaned heavily on the counter and could hardly stay standing long enough to pay for his food. 

Labels: alcoholic liver syndrome, cirrosis, liver damage