Only Liver Moms will Appreciate and Understand this Fear

For the last three days Ashley has had a little bit of blood in her stool; at first we thought the redness was from something she ate but after reviewing her food intake over the last week she hasn't had anything red. Today I get a call from Ashley at school, she says the bleeding is worse. I take her to the doctors praying she had a rectal tear or hemorrhoids but the doctor couldn't see anything on internal examination. By the way, this was Ashley first experience with a rectal exam, she was so uncomfortable she couldn't stop laughing.

The doc orders a complete set of labs with a liver function panel and CBC's with platelet count. He also told me to keep Ashley home from school tomorrow and monitor her stool color and bleeding. Which means I have to pretty much dissect Ashley's stool to see what color the blood is, where it is located on her stool; the inside or the outside, etc. Oh what fun...just how I want to spend my Tuesday.

The fear is that Ashley has varices and they are bleeding. Having varices in the colon are rare but Ashley has liver disease so we can't rule anything out. Usually varices are found in the stomach and the esophagus. Her lab results tomorrow should tell us more. Until then just think of me the next time you sit on the "John", "toilet," "commode", "waste receptacle", whatever you call it.

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Ashley's Story

“Although Ashley’s liver is failing, she isn’t sick enough to be placed on the liver transplant list. We were told that Ashley would need a new liver by the time she reaches puberty." Ashley was born at the end of July in 1998, but her story doesn’t start there;her story begins when she was just a little peanut in my womb. At 24 weeks gestation we learned we were having a girl, but our little girl had something wrong with her. Imagine sitting in the examining room, and the excitement of learning you are having a girl, then at the same time you hear the silence in the room when something is just not right with the baby. We were told that Ashley possibly had an ovarian cyst. It was normal and not to worry. But something told us it was more than just an ovarian cyst. As soon as Ashley was delivered she struggled to live. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and she was blue. Thankfully the doctor cut the cord immediately and although Ashley was still blue; she was b

Answers lead to more Questions

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All About Ashley - Dance, Liver, Life.

Ashley has been busy this year with dance. She is simply amazing and has grown so much as a dancer this year. I am very proud of her. Each year as Ashley continues to dance, it has become increasingly hard to pay for her love of dance. However, some how by the grace of God we are able to continue to support her talent and love. I mean really how can you possibly say no to this. and this... and of course this.... and this too.... Amazing isn't she? Remarkably or miraculously dance seems to be what is keeping Ashley so healthy. Her doctors are in firm belief that her dance is providing her with healing powers that they just don't have. Ashley's liver disease is stable after 13 years of fighting this beast called biliary atresia. Note: I said stable not cured. Her liver function appears to be normal...for now. The only issue we are dealing with is Ashley's platelet count is continuing to drop. At present time, her platelet count is

Love For Ashley

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