How do we know what stage of cirrhosis my mother is at?

She was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis 6 months ago misdiagnosed with hep C. We still do not know what caused it. She was told to get on the list for a transplant but does not need one as of yet. Can I as a daughter be a donor and if so how would I go about it?

Posted 8 months ago

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How to Be a Liver Donor
By eHow Health Editor
Rate: (10 Ratings)
Donating a portion of your liver to a person who desperately needs a liver transplant is one of the single most unselfish acts a person can make. Because the surgery isn't being performed under emergency and/or extreme conditions, the success rate of transplants from living donors is high.

1) Consider donating a portion of your liver to a loved one in need if you're the parent, sibling, adult child or an extended family member.
Step2) Know that if you're not related by blood but are emotionally attached to someone who needs a liver, excellent donor-recipient matches can still be made with adopted family members, spouses or life-long friends.
Step3) Evaluate your health status. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney problems, hepatitis or AIDS, or if you are (or have been) an alcoholic and/or drug addict, you'll probably be ineligible to donate your liver.
Step4) Volunteer to have a blood test. You don't necessarily have to have the same blood type as your recipient, but you do need to have a compatible type.
Step5) Undergo a complete physical, including tissue typing, antibody screening, urine tests, EKG and psychological evaluation.
Step6) Arrive at the hospital, along with the liver recipient, early in the morning when the donor's surgery begins first.
Step7) Be prepped and readied for the operating room. An intravenous (IV) tube will be started, and you'll be put to sleep. You'll wake up in the recovery room and be moved to a surgical intensive care unit overnight.
Step8) Expect to stay in the hospital one week and to be fully recovered after four to six weeks.
Step9) Expect your liver to regenerate back to its normal size within two to three months. New blood vessels will also develop.
Step10) Plan to return to work within four weeks if you have a desk job and eight weeks if you do more strenuous work.

Posted 8 months ago

Other 4 Answers to How do we know what stage of cirrhosis my mother is at?

fe45au	Posted Mar 11th, 2009 at 10:03PM Hmmm. Unless they can take part of your liver, I don't see how you could be a donor. We each need our livers to live, so it would have to be from someone that recently died. Extreme tiredness and weakness. Nosebleeds and easy bruising. Weight loss. Belly pain or discomfort. Yellowing of the skin (jaundice). Itching. Fluid buildup in the legs, called edema and in the belly, called ascites . Bleeding in the stomach or in the esophagus, the tube that leads from the mouth to the stomach. Confusion. Check this good website: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/cirrhosis-topic-overview?page=2 Rated: +1Vote for this!
dissolvedsoul	Posted Mar 11th, 2009 at 10:51PM Yeah Livers are a tough situation compared to other organs. I would keep getting blood tests to test the WBC Counts. She would definately have yellowing of the skin. They should be able to tell what stage she is at. My aunt was diagnosed with it two years ago and they pinpointed her passing within two weeks. Your Doctor should be on top of this. The liver is nothing to mess around with. Rated: +1Vote for this!
MegJgeM	Posted Mar 12th, 2009 at 5:34PM Just remember that the donor often goes through a rougher transition after the transplant.But it is a great gift to give your family member if you can :-) Rated: +1Vote for this!
unicorn59	Posted Mar 13th, 2009 at 11:40AM My husband has cirrhosis....he was born with a birth defect, that causes liver scarring (cirrhosis), and usually cirrhosis causes liver failure, somewhere down the line... When he was 5 mos. old, the doctor's sent him home "to die"....nothing they could do....(remember this is 1959)... Well, he's 50, now.....and through the years, he's even been diagnosed with "end stage liver failure"....yet, somehow his liver function has stayed in a fairly stable range.... Hep C can cause a progressive deterioration of the liver, and I suspect that since they told her to check about liver transplants, they are thinking it will be needed for your mom, and probably not in the too distant future....Dr.'s usually give the transplant speech, when a certain test reaches a magic number, in your blood work.... I would think you, as her daughter, could be a donor, as long as you match the specific requirements for a donor....they would test you for that....check with her doctor about how you would go about it... She had to have come into contact with someone's blood or body fluid and had it enter her bloodstream, for her to gotten Hep C. It can happen through sexual contact, or from a cut that's open, sharing needles, tatooing....sharing a razor or toothbrush....being the most common modes of transmission...maybe she can tie it to one of those..... Good Luck to you and your mom.... Rated: +1Vote for this!

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