Thursday, November 23, 2006

We got our stories straight

Terri called me a few minutes ago. She is the donation coordinator for the recipients liver and of course mine as well when I was going through the process if becoming a live liver donor.

Now that I have hemochromotosis, I am out.

Back to the call.

She said that I have fatty deposits in my liver. The macro and micro kind. One kind can be adjusted by diet and exercise. The other I thought she said would not be affected by diet or exercise. The fatty deposits affect about 70% of my liver right now.

Of course, if untreated it could be bad news. But I will get a call Friday for an appointment to get the real deal on what my future holds.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Of course, if untreated it could be bad news"

Aside from diet and exercise, how do you treat 'it' (the fatty deposits)?

Do you know what the name of the blood test is?
Thinkin' about my honey! ;-p

~D

causaleffect said...

Here is what I have found, from this web site http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/index.htm they mention these tests:
1) transferrin saturation test = determines how much iron is bound to the protein that carries iron in the blood
2) total iron binding capacity (TIBC) test = measures how well your blood can transport iron
3) serum ferritin test = shows the level of iron in the liver
4) HFE mutation = which will help confirm the diagnosis

A liver biopsy, in which a tiny piece of liver tissue is removed and examined under a microscope, may be needed. It will show how much iron has accumulated in the liver and whether the liver is damaged.

Hemochromatosis is often undiagnosed and untreated. It is considered rare and doctors may not think to test for it. The initial symptoms can be diverse and vague and can mimic the symptoms of many other diseases. Also, doctors may focus on the conditions caused by hemochromatosis—arthritis, liver disease, heart disease, or diabetes—rather than on the underlying iron overload. However, if the iron overload caused by hemochromatosis is diagnosed and treated before organ damage has occurred, a person can live a normal, healthy life.

Above info culled from
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/index.htm

causaleffect said...

Oh, for fatty deposits, it's pretty much just diet and exercise.
The combination of hemochromotosis AND fatty liver, pretty much puts me in a category of a diet of water.
Many of the foods for a lean diet are all high in iron. All the foods to keep my iron low are....bad tasting. YUCK.

I unfortunately subscribe to the Garfield (the cat) rule of dieting......
The first word in diet is.....DIE.