Welcome to the 5 new members!

[Guest guest]

Dear new members...

We welcome you to the liver cirrhosis support group at yahoo groups . We are one

of the fastest growing support groups on the internet with

653 members and counting. We added an unprecendented 5 new members in the last

12 hours!

Some quick facts-

* The liver is the largest organ of the body, and also the largest gland.

* The liver affects nearly every physiological process of the body and

performs over 500 different chemical functions.

* The liver filters over a liter of blood each minute.

*Hepatitis is inflammation in the liver from a virus, bacteria, or chemical

(alcohol), or

auto immune and other causes, including " fatty liver " , cryptogenic, or " hidden "

or unknown causes.

*There are over 100 forms of liver disease that affect men, women and children

of every race and age group.

and most if not caught and treated if possible

can eventually lead to cirrhosis or " end stage liver disease " .

This is a group of people helping each other to navigate through this

terrible disease.

We are very informal here, and have very few rules. They can be counted on

one hand. No soliciting, no flaming or insulting, and no politics or other

divisive subjects.

With so many things dividing us as a world community, we are trying to keep

this group about helping others cope with cirrhosis, aka ESLD, or end stage

liver disease.

Most health support groups have moderation before your

post is ever considered for the forum. This one is set so the we can

actually converse, and that leaves a lot of leeway to the members to say

what they want, but we try to keep the discussion somewhat related to liver

disease. Mostly, common sense dictates this and there is seldom a need for

any kind of moderator intervention. There are three moderators here, MaC,

Pamela and myself. My name is Bobby Aragon. There are a number of transplant

survivors, and

transplant candidates. There are a few who have liver disease, but are not

having

transplants. Check out the link called " database " to see who has what illness.

It

can also help keep people's names straight for you. There is a nice photo

album, so we can see what we look like. We have some useful files for

downloading in the section called " files " , and

a " links " section. Many answers can be found in these sections. The powerpoint

presentations are from teaching hospitals, and meant for med students, and

nurses, and have a wealth on information.

nevertheless ,Please ask questions.

Welcome to our group. Love, Bobby

*Sickness brings us to our knees. It shows us we are human and

that human bodies don't live forever. Showing love to those

who are sick and getting love from someone who is sick...will

last. It will remain in the minds of those who loved them for

years to come until they, also, go to their own resting place.

Hold onto that love.* group owner -