Nita: Jaundice question

[Guest guest]

>

> I have a question for y'all. How many of you have gone up till now with

> infections but no jaundice?

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I'm another who has had many, many rounds of cholangitis, yet I've

been jaundiced only once. When it hit, though, it was a doozy!!! My

hubby came in from church one morning (about 7 years ago), took one

look at me and said " You're calling the Dr. right now! You're as

yellow as the wall behind you! "

I flew to the mirror and discovered he was right! I was itching like

mad at that point and had been horribly sick all weekend. I ended up

having to go to MUSC in ton (5 hour drive each way for us) to

get a biliary stent put in place. This was the episode which brought

about my PSC diagnosis (though it was mentioned in my 1994 surgical

notes when they removed my gall bladder; it's just that nobody

bothered to tell us about it!).

Prior to that, I had experienced many, many rounds of cholangitis but

we didn't know what it was. My hubby kept kidding me that my gall

bladder was trying to grow back! (Since it felt just like the awful

attacks I had prior to removing that nasty little dead-in-the-water

part of my insides).

So, yes, it is quite possible to NOT be jaundiced or itching and still

be quite advanced. I am stage 4, with cirrhosis, hepatic

encephalopathy and tons of blood clots in all the veins leading to my

liver. But you would never guess it by looking at me! Yes, I count

my blessings every single day that I don't have to endure the ghastly

itching that so many of our group have to battle. I itch only when I

get hot.

Regards,

Carolyn B. in SC