About a week ago, Mom had a bout of gibberish. This happens from time to time, but usually for a minute here or a minute there. It's caused by the hepatic encephalopathy (essentially toxic build up on the brain) and comes and goes with her other symptoms of confusion, lack of comprehension, and memory loss. She has had this for over a year - I learned of it's existence through the hospice nurses of last summer. This incident lasted approximately 3 hours, where she could not form words or sentences and continually stuttered. The doctor raised her lactulose dose dramatically and is continuously testing the ammonia levels in her blood until it falls into normal range.
There are several resources online to learn about hepatic encephalopathy. I ask anyone reading this to educate yourself BEFORE contacting my mother. Either she is not comprehending what people are telling her, or they have misinformation. She has been scared, crying, and yelling for two days. Please do not tell her that she WILL go into a coma. Please do not tell her she WILL die from this. It COULD....but in all honesty, she has had this for over a year without a coma or death and the fact that the doctor finally decided to test her (I have asked so many times, I can't even keep count, and I've been denied every single time before now) and treat the condition does not make her health any worse than it was last month or three months ago or six months ago. Also, she has so many other issues that her liver is doing fairly well comparatively and no medical professional believes that her liver disorder will be the cause of her eventual death. It is impossible to help her or to treat her if she is hysterical. Please consider this before giving her information you may not be sure is true. Also, please realize that this a chronic condition that requires ongoing treatment. Her liver doctor has been aware of this condition for several months, even without ammonia levels being tested. Her other symptoms have made it obvious to everyone but her. My point is that this is not something urgent that suddenly happened and everyone needs to freak out about it; exactly the opposite. If it is monitored and treated properly, it can be reversed and simply be something we have to watch out for and not something that kills her. Also realize that the websites often give worst case scenarios and results of hidden/untreated HE, neither of which apply to her case. Please note that she does not qualify for a liver transplant and that her MELD score is 8, down from 10.
Visit the NIH website here.
Visit the WIKI page here.
Learn what a MELD score means here.
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