[Magdalen] Keith update & thanks for prayers

[Ginga Wilder]

Prayers continue, Sally,  I hope the wait won't be long and that your and
Keith's anxiety will stay at a low level.

Ginga

On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 4:04 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, everyone for supporting us in prayer, it's been a very peaceful day
> with little of what might have been a lot of pointless anxiety. We took a
> trip out to the kids' school to watch Donal practising for this weekend's
> riding show, stopping off at a small town that has a "farmer's co-op" to
> buy some dog food that is only sold there. I'm hoping  it will settle
> Gryffin's constantly upset tummy, he is not getting on well with either
> Royal Canin or Hills. Expensive does not mean its the best...!
>
> This evening my medical sister phoned with Keith's test results...not what
> we expected and we're still trying to figure out what it means. We're in
> good company, she says the Radiologists have also been discussing it all
> day and still haven't resolved the question to their satisfaction.
>
> Bottom line - his liver lit up the screen with many little "spots" that the
> doctors think  (though can't be 100% sure) are "haem-angiomas" (this is
> Linda's firm opinion FWIW).  Spots have a rich blood supply but not likely
> to be malignancy especially as there are no other markers of cancer in the
> blood tests and CT scan shows everything else is clear. Also no infection
> so we can rule that out and stop the antibiotics he's been taking.
>
> The less-good news is that he has a damaged liver, with fatty infiltration
> and indications on the blood test that all is not well. So instead of being
> referred to a surgeon, as we were fully expecting, he will have to go to a
> physician for more tests and for treatment to improve liver function and
> hopefully prevent further harm.
>
> This kind of liver disease is associated with excess alcohol but the weird
> thing is, Keith doesn't drink to obvious excess, nor is he obese. He was on
> Doxycycline for quite a while a couple of years back when he had to go to
> Nigeria, and at the time felt very unwell on it - but perhaps that was his
> liver not coping. In general he's been very healthy his whole life, with
> little need for medical treatment. We're also going to call our doctors
> back in Somerset West to see if they have some previous results we can use
> for comparison, as Keith thinks he did have a Liver Function Test for some
> reason back then.
>
> It's so strange that we've been talking about Anglicans over-using and
> abusing alcohol, and how it creeps up on you because of cultural
> acceptability - and also strange that last week on Sky we watched a news
> insert about liver disease which has increased 400% in Britain.  But, short
> of another explanation for the damage, it seems that wine has been doing
> Keith no favours; and that the fact that he never feels "drunk" is just
> another way of saying that his liver has been taking a massive hit without
> him knowing it.
>
> Keith has a very "irregular" life - spending days and weeks on end away
> from home in guest houses and eating out, and most of the time he's home he
> sits at the dining room table working on his laptop. A glass of two of wine
> in the evening...a simple pleasure it seems but not a safe one for him, and
> perhaps there are others like him who, because their drinking isn't a
> social problem in any way, think it's not a health problem either!!
>
> There is a very good physician in town who treats many liver patients (I
> think that in America that would be an "internist" as doctors in general
> are called physicians, here it's only the specialists in internal
> medicine). So we'll call him tomorrow and Linda will also have a word with
> him, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the second to next step.
> The next step's already happened - no more alcohol!! Regardless of what
> caused this or didn't cause it, that poor liver needs help and protection.
>
> Keith says that he doesn't drink wine (his preferred alcoholic drink) for
> inebriation, since he never feels much of an effect from it, but
> rather because he likes it. I agree with him - other drinks are boring, too
> sweet, too bland, or not enjoyable with food (like tea). We are going to
> have to get creative and find the elusive "comparable quality" drinks that
> the Church Guidelines are talking about.
>
> I really hope that this has been caught in time to prevent complications or
> further deterioration. Linda's saying the CT scan should be repeated in a
> month's time just to make sure the spots, whatever they are, haven't
> changed in size or number. If they do change, a cancer scenario would be
> revisited, most likely with an attempt to take a fine needle biopsy in the
> X ray department. It's good news that this is unlikely but it's not going
> to be an easy few weeks for Keith.
>
> Sally D <feeling relieved and sad at the same time>
>