What It Is



Autoimmune Hepatitis is a rare disease in which the immune system attacks the liver, mistaking it for invading cells. There is no cure, but there are treatments that keep it under control. Prednisone is the usual treatment but may be paired up with or replaced with azathioprine, budesonide, mycophenolate, cyclosporine or mercaptopurine. Approximately 70% of those affected are women.

I am in no way an expert on this subject. Every day is a learning experience.

In this blog, I will revisit my experiences and post current experiences. I will also add information I find useful and probably some rambling.


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

ER Visit


This is not how I wanted to start things out. I was going to post more information and past experiences first, but life had other plans. I will post more technical information after this.

Yesterday, late morning, I started feeling queasy. Thought it was the yummy cheese I just eaten. Then the shakes started setting in (I attributed this to the prednisone). A couple hours later, my stomach was worse and I would get a bit light headed. I was a little worried that I was coming down with something.

Another couple hours later, my mom and I went grocery shopping at our local WalMart (she's my partner in crime for these things). I almost stayed in the vehicle because I was very nauseous by then, but I had a few things I really needed. We barely even got started when I had to find a place to sit that was crowded. I truly thought I was going to pass out. After sitting for ten minutes, we high-tailed it out of there. No groceries.

On they way back to my house, we almost had to pull over a couple of times. I thought I was going to be sick. My mom dropped me off and I went straight to bed. My husband came in to see what was wrong. I barely got the words out and I was in the bathroom vomiting. This was bad. It was dark brown like coffee grounds. This was very very bad. After a bit of serious panicking, I tried to calm myself down and took a shower (my stomach was feeling a bit better). That shower was difficult. My legs were weak, the shakes were horrible, had trouble catching my breath and my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest.

After my shower, I got dressed and called the GI Clinic that I go to, explaining to the person on call what happened. I was told to call 911. Tried to say my husband can just drive me there but that didn't go over well her. She said she would call me back in a couple minutes so I could make the call. She did and stayed with me on the phone till the ambulance arrived. I was thankful because she kept me calm. My poor husband was in shock.

In the ER the shoved an NG tube up my nose and down my throat (I DO NOT ever want that done again). They drained quite a bit of old blood from my stomach and were able to determine the bleeding was from a small, slow leak (presumably from my esophageal varices) that was not immediately life threatening. Thank God. I was sent home with a prescription for an acid blocker and instructions to follow up with my hepatologist asap.

I am not a happy camper. Last week I was supposed to have my varices banded, but insurance had other ideas. They refused to pay anything toward the procedure and my appointment was cancelled. According to my insurance company, I needed my referral renewed. I was under the impression it had been, but I guess it is my fault for not making sure. So now I hope I can get things straightened out and get the procedure done before my vein blows.

This was a very scary, painful and avoidable incident. Still feeling a little off today and this morning I got rid of some more of the old blood through the other end. Wasn't worried about that because I was expecting it. Well, that is my story and I'm sticking to it.




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