Sunday, January 30, 2011

Oops. I Spoke Too Soon

The full report on my biopsy is in. There's good news and bad news. The good news: As I noted in my last post, the fat in my liver has virtually disappeared. The bad news: Everything else.

In biopsies, liver condition is measured by grade (the extent of the disease or inflamation) and stage (amount of fibrosis, or scarring). In June 2010 my liver was grade 3 (on a scale from 0 - 9) and stage 3 (on a scale of 0 - 6). Note: Stage is commonly measured on a scale of 0 - 4; my transplant center uses a different scale.

Now, my liver is grade 9 (!) and stage 4. This sucks. A lot.

I'm having a little trouble coming to terms with this news. I'm scared. And I'm fresh out of suck-it-up. But in a day or two I'll feel better and can start working on the next thing, which apparently is IL-28 phenotype, whatever that is.

Photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert

1 comment:

Something Happened Somewhere Turning said...

I can't believe you've had so many biopsies in less than a year. Now that they determined exact what they're looking at it seems unlikely that there will be anymore. Let's hope.
I wish I could offer you something other than, "Hang in there." But alas, that is all I have.
I am thinking of you and hoping that you find some of that inner peace that might comfort your days.
Be well.