Backgrounds and Beginnings

When I was 2-3 years old, my Pediatrician discovered that my liver was enlarged. It extended below my rib cage. They monitored it. He suspected it was just something that I would grow into when I hit puberty and since it wasn't causing any problems, he left it alone. When I was 10, I was taken into Children's to have a liver biopsy that came back as "inconclusive" for anything they expected to find.
As I switched from a Pediatrician to a family doctor, everyone (including myself) just kind of forgot about it. It wasn't causing any issues. It was still enlarged (at least to my knowledge), but it was invisible.

I continued my life without any restrictions, which means I drank, had sex, experimented with drugs...things you do. Sometime in 2010, I went to the ER because I was having an immense amount of abdominal pain. They always think it's kidney stones. It's never ever been kidney stones, btw. So they did an ultrasound to look for stones. Then they sent me home. Couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they blamed it on dehydration.

I went in a few months later for my yearly checkup. My doctor said "That last ER visit, they found Liver Cirrhosis, so we'll need to get you a referral." I was flabbergasted. He thought I already knew (someone was supposed to call me), and he was very casual about it. I didn't know much about it, other than it was normally found in old people who drank too much and that it turns people yellow. We had a conversation, but it wasn't something I was too worried about.

I got in to see a Gastroenterologist. Pretty much those guys follow the track of organs from esophagus to colon and every organ in that connection. That was bomb of a day. He tells me Liver Cirrhosis has no cure outside of transplant. I was freaked out.

They did another liver biopsy and a few other tests. I was diagnosed with Cryptogenic Liver Cirrhosis. Cryptogentic is just the doctor term for "We have no idea."  I also had some other symptoms of Cirrhosis on the inside.

I went through a transplant evaluation where they told me I was too healthy for transplant and they told me to take care of myself...stay away from alcohol, and salt, and sharp pointy foods and anything that's hard for a liver to process. They also said it would be 5-15 years before my liver was bad enough to do anything about.

Almost 6 years later...I told my mom I needed to get re-hydrated at the ER. This is something that I'm really susceptible to. Any stomach problems cause me to loose a lot more fluid than my body can reproduce quickly, or that I can keep down.

She takes me in and the ER doctor was just the best. He diagnosed me with pancreatitis, and admitted me. Now, the next day, I was determined to get home. I mean, who really likes being in the hospital?

I went home, but ended up back in the ER the next day. They admitted me again, and started running more tests, including a CT scan. In this scan, they determined that my liver was much worse than when I was last checked and that there was a mass in my liver.

Once I got out of Sewickley, they told me to get in right away with the Liver guy at UPMC. Dr. G, since he's gonna be a bigger part of this...may as well give him a name. I got in to see him pretty quickly. He explained that I have primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Then he ordered an MRI.

He explained that for my MELD Score would be increased due to the cancer and that I was now be qualified to get on the list.I had the MRI done and this is what I know.

My cancer is 1.6 or 1.8cm. The tumor needs to reach 2cm before it qualifies me for the "bonus points". My MELD score is currently a 7. The bonus points will push me to 20+ When the tumor hits 2cm, I will have surgery to kill the cancer cells (Tumor ablation).

In the mean time, Here are some important dates:
Feb 22-26 - Transplant Evaluation
Mar 7 - Tumor measurement and followup with Dr.G

Introductions here!

I have a wide varieties of folks in my life...sort of. The next few sentences might sound like bragging. It's really not. They're facts. I care about a lot of people, and have a lot of people that care about me. I feel like I have a rockin' extended family in the friends I've chosen. They have been there for me in ways I just can't even express. YOU ALL have touched my life.

So instead of posting 18 different places, add this as a bookmark, check in from time to time. All the up dates will be here...for everything. I'm gonna upload the past updates, and be able to get into a little more detail here than I feel I can on social media.

There will be fundraising that happens. It'll also go here, in addition to a wishlist of things that are either things to make life a little easier or things to keep me preoccupied in general.

I'm also going to be posting some of what's going through my brain just to get it out somewhere and document my process.I'll try to keep everything labelled accordingly.

So strap in for the ride. I hear it's gonna be a hell of a trip.

-duckie

PS Shout out to my beloved Aunt Shirley for "Team Duckie"