Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. Andre was diagnosed in early July 2019 with stage 4 of liver disease, known more commonly as Cirrhosis. At initial diagnosis, it was thought to be at a manageable level of cirrhosis. Andre found out when he was very young that he had Hemophilia, meaning that his blood is deficient of a clotting factor that stops bleeding for the rest of us. Because of this deficiency, any time he has suffered an injury, or had a procedure done he needed medical assistance to stop bleeding. Today that is through infusion of the deficient clotting factor. Years ago it was through whole blood transfusions. He received several whole blood transfusions before screening became more stringent, and at some point contracted Hepatitis C. Andre has been successfully treated for Hepatitis C and now has no trace of it, however the damage to his liver remains. In January he had an accumulation of Ascites fluid in his abdomen that became extremely uncomfortable, making everyday tasks difficult because of the pressure, and decreasing appetite. There was also an increase in signs of Hepatic Encephalopathy. The Hepatic Encephalopathy is a result of the buildup of toxins in the blood due to decreased function of the liver and causes forgetfulness, confusion and difficulty focusing. On January 21, 2020 Andre underwent a Paracentesis procedure to drain the Ascites fluid from his abdomen. They removed 4.7 liters of fluid. On February 7, 2020 his liver specialist referred him for a transplant evaluation. He was admitted to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore on February 12, for a condition known as Flood Syndrome, a complication of the liver disease that has the Ascites fluid leaking from his navel. At that time the transplant team at the hospital got involved and started administering the tests for evaluation while he was inpatient. Another Paracentesis was done, removing an additional 5.4 liters of Ascites fluid. He had a hernia repair surgery on February 16, 2020, during which they removed another 4.4 liters of Ascites fluid, and we were told he is now in End Stage Liver Disease. His transplant evaluation tests have been completed, and he was discharged on February 20, 2020. We will post updates as we get them. The current status is recovery from surgery, with restrictions of no lifting of anything over 10 lbs, no driving until Dr tells him he can, and waiting.... hoping to hear that he is put on the Liver transplant waiting list.
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So .... here I am, laying in a Johns Hopkins bed again. Came in this Tuesday morning because my liver dr wanted me to. Due to a high temperature of 102.1° They have been running all kinds of blood tests, scans and X-rays. They say that I have bacteria in my blood ... but they can not figure out how or where it came from. So they have been treating me with fairly strong antibiotics via IV. Will most likely be here trough the weekend or longer if the bacteria is not gone. I want to thank everyone for your prayers and donations to this site.
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