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Anyone with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer) want to share?
Liver Cancer | Last Active: Jan 12, 2023 | Replies (38)Comment receiving replies
Tina, am sorry to hear about your Dad. My Father passed away from liver cancer over 20 years ago, so this is touches my heart. In addition, my daughter was very sick over the holiday with dark urine, weak, cough, low grade fever. She went to emergency room and they ran bloodwork and urine test. She had low potassium level and magnesium. However, her liver profile was abnormal as well. Her AST was 178 and ALT was 78, Albumin low 3.3 Anion Gap high at 12 . Alkaline Phos. high at 284 Billirubin was normal. Urine showed Urobilinogen high at 1. She was given magnesium and potassium intravenously but sent home because she does not have insurance. She was not told to follow up with a doctor. I am concerned that she has liver disease..... She is 36. Is there still an online "ask a nurse/dr for mayo clinic? Should I follow up on her labs and be concerned. Aren't these abnormal?
Replies to "Tina, am sorry to hear about your Dad. My Father passed away from liver cancer over..."
Hi @phylliserin, If your daughter is a patient of Mayo Clinic, she can submit questions about her labs online through the patient portal, called Patient Online Services https://onlineservices.mayoclinic.org/content/staticpatient/showpage/patientonline
Mayo Clinic also has a Symptom Checker that you might find helpful: https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptom-checker/select-symptom/itt-20009075
Here is more information about Liver Function Tests and normal ranges for comparison https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/liver-function-tests/about/pac-20394595
It would seem that your instincts are correct and that she should book a follow-up with a doctor or specialist. Is there a university or teaching hospital that your daughter could go to?
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@phylliserin Welcome to Connect. I am really sorry to hear about your daughter. The AST and ALT results do sound high.
If a number of things were out of range I think it would be cause for concern. Is she at risk for liver problems? This link from Mayo tells causes and symptoms. I had liver disease -- cirrhosis. Mine was caused by fatty liver. Most people with fatty liver are overweight, which I was, but some people are not, it's just their diet that causes it. Other causes are mentioned in the Mayo article.
I didn't think a hospital could send a sick person home for lack of insurance. Does she have Medicaid? It does sound as if she should have some medical attention. I thought pretty much everyone was insured these days through ACA if they had no insurance other than that. I hope you are able to get her the attention she needs, I will definitely be interested in hearing what the doctor says.
JK