A healthy liver doesn't cut it

Illustration: Doing an ultrasound

My daughter C.  had her second abdominal ultrasound a few days ago. I know, she'd just earned a superlative score from her liver expert three weeks ago. So why the scan?

Well, you could call it maternal over-concern. Or, if you want to be really accurate, hypochondria-by-proxy is probably better. (I thought I'd invented that term but Google insists others beat me to it.)

In any case, after C.'s tussle with liver failure and mine with Takotsubo Syndrome, the vaguest hint of illness sends me into a panic (e.g. I just need to feel weakness and nausea to see myself right back in the cardiac intensive care unit).

So when C.'s feet were slightly swelled one night for a few hours, I began examining her stomach scrupulously every day for a week. I concluded that the Ascites (abdominal fluid) had returned.

After convincing C.'s pediatrician to send a referral for the scan, I dispatched the Hubby with C. to the local scanning center. The findings: mother has hypochondria - no sign of Ascites. The technician's assessment is all we've got for now. But she was very confident and even added that the liver looked healthy too. The doctor's report will arrive any day. 

But while we're in the clear liver-wise, C. seems pretty out of things. Her standing is unsteady and her walking still non-existent. She's not very responsive, sleeps a lot during the day and no longer signs "I want to eat" by placing her hand in her mouth.

In short, the deterioration triggered by her liver illness still hasn't been reversed and I'm losing hope that it ever will.