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Told I have "Dense Fatty Liver and enlarged spleen"... Scared to death now!

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Shadowhawk
Shadowhawk

So, long story short.. I have been recently having alot of health concerns, which finally led me to going to a GI. She ordered several tests, including blood and ultrasound. After pushing, she finally got a message to me saying that I have a dense fatty liver, enlarged spleen, and that I should get a pneumonia vaccine.

Unfortunately, somehow the lab people messed up the most basics, and they never did the CMP or lipid (only did the Lipase, which was normal). Nor did they actually give any indication of how much things were off (sizes of organs).  I am still trying to find out what they mean by dense, and just how enlarged my spleen reportedly is.  Ironically, i thought i was reading too much into it.. but when the UT tech was scanning my liver (i believe it was still there), she asked how old i was.  Now i am worried that she asked because it looked sooo bad...

I am beyond scared right now, knowing that the spleen is not a good sign with the liver. I don't ever drink, but I am fat (to put it bluntly) and am working on high blood pressure. I feel like I was just handed a death sentence, and even worse, I have no idea how bad I am right now.

Unfortunately, due to a lapse in availability, I wasn't able to get yearly checks. The last CMP and lipid I had was this three years ago:

Albumin - 4.2

Bilirubin - 0.4

AST - 25

ALT - 54 (Lab marked as normal)

LDL - 121

HDL - 40

Triglycerides - 94

I did have two hematology tests, and aside from very slight anemia on one (but not the more recent one), everything was good, with solid white cells and platelet counts above 300 both times.

I thought my numbers were ok then.. I am blown away that I got so bad since then. I am even more scared based on the spleen that I am beyond saving now. I realize with no current numbers, it's hard to say anything, but maybe any hope is good right now. My mind wants to cling to the idea that its hard to imagine my numbers turned south in 3 years, but i know i have done myself no favors either.

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Shadowhawk
    Shadowhawk

    Posted

    So, just a bit more follow up - i was able to get the doc office, and talked to somebody looking at the scans.

    I was told that my liver was mildly large, fatty, and that my spleen was 14cm and mildly prominent.  The guy was trying to be reassuring that it didn't look horrible, but since i have no blood work to back it up, i am doubting still. 

    I keep finding conflicting info on just how enlarged this is; some places put it at the upper end of norm, others put it outside. I am worried so much about the spleen, as it might be a bellwether  warning of how bad my liver is. But since i never had a scan before this, i dont know how big it is compared to "then"..

  • eric89660
    eric89660 Shadowhawk

    Posted

    My spleen is the upper end of normal and my red blood count and haematicrit are low. This would point to mild anaemia but my haemoglobin is normal and I have haemochromatosis. I was worried but it appears that the doctors would call you in if something was really abnormal. Unfortunately,they (especially the gastros) don’t have a good bedside manner,which leads to us worrying more than we need to. Due to your spelling I think you are in the USA,where it seems easier to get full blood results. Try to add the range in brackets next to any future ones as it helps us patients to see if anything is awry. There are next to no medical professionals on here but we can give you our experiences.
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