I an in hopes that a nurse or someone in the medical field can answer my question.?
I deal with a family member that stretches the truth more than not. Over the past year she has went on and on about getting ready for treatment for Hep C. Note, in the past she said she had lung cancer which she did not. She is now stating she has decided not to get the tx for Hep C as she states she just does not feel like she can go through the sickness it causes. Now, she is stating she thinks she has serous of the liver. My question, if she had Hep C and all was tested to the point they told her what treatment plan they would treat her with, would they have not checked her liver at that time to see if she had serous or not?
Baa Baa2012-08-20T17:57:54Z
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I believe you are referring to "cirrhosis" of the liver that your family member might have. When someone has hep C, the first thing they would do is to find out what type and what damage has been done to the liver if any. Not everyone with hep C gets liver damage. Those that do can take 20-30 years before serious damage shows up. If she has cirrhosis of the liver, it would be the time for her to get treatment since that means the virus is seriously damaging her liver which will lead to total liver failure eventually. It might even be too late to do the treatment if the cirrhosis is far advanced. You want to try to get that viral load down or even undetectable before it starts doing serious damage. I believe they would have tested her to see if she had damage prior to treatment.
I'm not familiar with the condition "serous of the liver" that you're describing. Serous membranes are found on organs that do not open to the outside of the body; these membranes help keep the organs from "crashing" into each other. For instance, the peritoneum is a serous membrane that lines the abdominal organs. Serous membranes secrete serous fluid, which is normally not a problem.
Of course, there are literally hundreds of conditions that can affect the liver, and the serous ailment you're describing may just be one I haven't heard of.
Hepatitis C doesn't always require treatment. Or the patient can take antiviral medications, or hope for a liver transplant. We may need to know what her treatment plan was, if you can find out.
Some people do stretch the truth or exaggerate their ailments, or they may even make them up. They may want attention or they may really belive they have a nonexistent ailment. Or they may have the ailment and be frightened, and give inconsistent information to friends and family.
Unless you're providing actual care for this family member, your best action may be to just listen to what she has to say, even if you know she's exaggerating. Or if you have permission to discuss her diagnosis and treatment with her physician(s), you can ask them. (This requires her written permission, on a form that physicians' offices provide.)