Mom’s high bilirubin levels
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Thanks for responding.. I just spoke to the doctor, and he said the same thing that her liver needs to recover from the constant assault it’s undergone because of the infection, blockage and antibiotics. But he’s not sure if it actually will ever recover, and that we have to accept all this.
She hasnt been checked for any abscess, that’s a good point, will take it up with the doctor.
Hope your dad recovers, and I wish you and him all the best!
Varun
Hi,
My dad is going through a similar thing at the moment. His bilirubin levels are really high and his skin colour is fluro yellow.He has had an infection that required some pretty heavy duty antibiotics that were delivered through a PICC line, but the doctors say that the infection is under control at the moment.
They have inserted a total of three drains/stents into his intrahepatic ducts in the last three weeks, and his bilirubin levels drop slightly one day and then rise even higher the next.
We don’t know what is going on, and the doctors don’t seem to have any definative answers either.
The roller coaster of emotions that we all go through is torture, and the constant worry is exhausting. So I really do understand where you are coming from.
The problem is the liver is needed to metabolise and filter out toxins, so medications would need to be processed by the liver, which currently isn’t working properly, so it really is a ‘catch 22’ situation.
Aparently the drains are all working well, so when we asked if there was anything that we could do to improve the bilirubin levels we were told ‘no’, just get Dad to drink plenty of water, rest and eat well, and just wait.
All of the above we were already doing, so the frustartion and worry continues.One thought on your Mum’s recurring infections though, have they ruled out an abscess? If she has one of these then she could benifit from having it drained….
It’s worth asking.Thanks for responding everyone.. They’ve cultured the bacteria, and also he’s finished 2 courses of antibiotics.. But still has fever at least once a day. We just came back home from the hospital, they’ve drained the fluid out. Doctors say the drain isn’t clogged, and there is infection, but the bilirubin is high because her liver isn’t functioning as well because of repeated clogging and infections.
They say we should give it sometime for her liver to heal, and hopefully it will heal! The Fever is better than before, but then they say we can’t give get more antibiotics now.. So hopefully tht will subside on it’s own! Is there any medication to improve liver function?
Varun…..have the cultured the bacteria? And, if so, is your Mom responding to the antibiotics? Somehow, they must find the reason for her recurring infections. I agree with the Lisa and Lainy and hope for your Mom to find some relief real soon.
Good luck and best wishes are coming your way,
MarionWe are very sorry to hear about your Mom. I agree with Lisa, have they checked the drain for infection or for being clogged up? Hope they can find the cause here and that Mom will feel better.
I am so sorry to hear of your mom’s problems. I can’t say why her bilirubin is so high – could the drain be clogged inside? I hope they can figure it out quickly and relieve the jaundice.
best wishes,
LisaHi everyone, mum’s not doing too good.. They couldn’t internalize the drain, and she has an external drain now, been about 4 months now.. She’s had repeated infection with fever and chills. Her bilirubin levels have gone extremely high with total bilirubin 10 and direct bilirubin 15!
She also has fluid in her abdomen, they are going to take the fluid out tomorrow.. It doesn’t seem like we can do much. The bile ducts are not dilated because of the external drain.. But then why does she have such high bilirubin? It got better in between and she was almost normal as recently as 2 months back.. Now her jaundice has gone up again with infection.. Is it because of liver failure? Has her liver started to fail? What can we do now? Chemotherapy or any other treatment option is ruled out because of jaundice and infection.. I’m so lost!
Varun
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