Sandra's Road to Recovery

My mom has not been feeling good for several months. She had to wait for insurance to approve an ultrasound, then she had to wait even longer (like months) for insurance to approve a cat scan. Then she had to wait for a couple of weeks to hear from her doctor that she has cirrhosis of the liver and needed to see a specialist in Walla Walla. Then she waited for the specialist to give her an appointment time. All this leads to her being sent to the ER because she was getting really jaundiced. After, again, waiting several hours in the ER waiting room, the ER doctor told her he was very concerned and just shy of sending her in an ambulance to Walla Walla. He said there was some kind of blockage and she needed to be seen by the specialist within the next 48 hours. The specialist in Walla Walla ordered some more blood tests, and scheduled an appointment for a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy. They called back a few weeks later putting that appointment on hold and scheduled a liver biopsy. After getting the results back and talking with her doctor about all the other tests, they came to a consensus. There was good news and bad news. The good news is there is no cancer anywhere. The bad news is she needs to be listed for a liver transplant right away. It can take a year or more for a liver to become available and in a year the doctor said she will likely be very, very sick and in the hospital. If she had cancer anywhere, HIV, or been a drinker among other things, she wouldn't be eligible for a transplant. But he says she's an excellent candidate. The next step is to go to OHSU in Portland and meet with the team there to get started on a pre-transplant plan. And for those of you who don't know, cirrhosis is the liver tissue turning into scar tissue and there's nothing you can do to reverse it, only treat and stop the progression. Over the next several months there will be lots of traveling taking place for different doctors visits, tests and medications. Any and all support is appreciated and updates will be posted as they become available!