A way better guess than I could come up with--thanks!
Shannon

On Apr 6, 2006, at 3:16 PM, Luise Kunkle wrote:

>
> Hi Shannon,
>
> On Thu, 6 Apr 2006, Robert & Shannon Nelson wrote:
>
>> Mm, you've convinced me!
>> So now I've learned something about cirrhosis of the liver...
>> Wouldn't a person be feeling pretty horrible by the time the disease
>> got to this point?
>
> Generally speaking, I should think so. But there are always exceptions
> - sometimes people who on xray of e.g. the spinal cord should be
> incable of moving or screaming with pain never feel any trouble - with
> autopsies the same.
>
> It is of course also possible that there is no cirrhosis but perhaps a
> thrombosis of the vena porta The point with cirrhosis in this respect
> is that the flow of blood through the liver is impeded or blocked in
> the end - so a thrombus may conceivably also do this.
>
>> I'm remembering that he'd been playing with the kids, had apparently
>> felt find to that point. What else could cause that besides
>> alcoholism?
>
> E. g. chronic hepatitis, but probably other things as well:
> infections, acute hepatitis. The latter possibly also without
> cirhosis, when you consider what happens in an inflammation. It could
> probably also cause the blockage of flow through the liver.
>
> All guessing on my part, of course - somewhat educated guess, but I am
> no gastro-enterologist:-)
>
> Regards
>
> Luise