My wife died due to Autoimmune Hepatitis

Posted , 6 users are following.

:cry: This is about my wife Valerie who sadly passed away suddenly after a liver biopsy which went wrong and she basically bled to death.

She became very ill in Dec 2008 and was admitted to hosp.through a & e and was diagnosed with Septicaemia and e-coli,she was treated with drugs and sent home.About 4 weeks later she developed painless jaundice .She had many blood tests with very unusual results but the results of one test were missed.She had ct.mri,endoscopic investigations as the consultant was looking for a tumor , none was found,the search should then have been widened .Valerie became worse.At the end she became extremely bloated and after seeing a registrar was admitted immediately to have her tummy drained and a liver biopsy, but it was to late.Because the blood test result in Jan was missed her liver had become to damaged with Cirrhosis.The Liver biopsy should have been carried out through a vein and not through the wall of the liver.I am at present awaiting the results of a hospital enquiry which should be completed soon>

2 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Posted

    Keith, firstly i am very sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine how i'd feel in your position.

    I had a similar experience, although thanks to a very good radiographer it didn't go so far.

    After the birth of my youngest daughter i started to feel ill. I went yellow in eyes and skin, i got extremely bloated and felt exhausted and sick constantly. My doctors were convinced i had some viral form of hepatitis and did blood tests, some of which took over a month for the results to become available. By that time i was seriously ill. A junior doctor decided i should have a liver biopsy, i was concerned and pointed out the fluid in my body and asked if i was at risk, he replied no. I was prepped and sent to radiography suite. The radiographer took one look at me and told me if he did a standard biopsy i would bleed to death because of the fluid. They did a jugular biopsy (through the vein in your neck) and all was fine. After an investigation i was told this was due to a breakdown in communication.

    What you have described should not have happened. I would at least ask the health board for a full explanation and take it from there.

  • Posted

    HI Keith, first off -thank you for sharing & my deepest condolences.

    I too have AIH but was diagnosed recently. 

    if  you don't mind me asking, when was she diagnosed?

    Please let us know how the inquiry goes.

    Nobody should have to go through what you (& your wife) experienced.

     

  • Posted

    Kieth I am so sorry for your loss... You and your family are in my prayers 🙏🏻

  • Posted

    I am very sorry for your loss Keith. May god give you and your family strength to cope with the loss. God bless.

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