A Slave To The Bottle

Cirrhosis Of The Liver

Cirrhosis is a complication of liver disease which involves loss of liver cells and irreversible scarring of the liver.

Alcohol and viral hepatitis B and C are common causes of cirrhosis,  although there are many other causes.

Cirrhosis can cause weakness,  loss of appetite, easy bruising,  yellowing of the skin (jaundice), itching,  and fatigue.

Diagnosis of cirrhosis can be suggested by history, physical examination and blood tests, and can be confirmed by liver biopsy.

Complications of cirrhosis include edema and secured,  spontaneous bacterial peritonitis,  bleeding from varices,  hepatic encephalopathy,  hepatorenal syndrome,  hypersplenism,   and liver cancer.

Treatment of cirrhosis is designed to prevent further damage to the liver,  treat complications of cirrhosis, and preventing or detecting liver cancer early.

This is what Lenny's diagnosis after Beulah had repeatedly gotten him to finally go see a doctor.

He had waited for so long that he was in the advanced stages of liver cancer and the doctors couldn't do anything to correct what Lenny had done to himself.

Lenny was terribly upset with the doctors report,  but he couldn't fix the problem.  Now he thought of Beulah having to eventually endure living a life without him in it.

He had decided now to just ride it out,  but listen to whatever else that Beulah had wanted him to do.

She had suggested that he just come to church with her and get himself right with the Lord with the time that he had left,  and just appreciate the time that they had left with each other.

Lenny had talked to his boss about the situation, even though it wasn't even a big surprise to him.  He suggested that he take his severance pay package and just retire and live off of what he had left. 

Marcus was then notified of Lenny's condition along with his ailing parents who were probably secretly battling with the same thing,  but we're living in denial of it because they hadn't wanted to quit, even though they had been told the news about their son.

When even your family accepts a disease as normal,  it's because it has become a generational curse to where the family does nothing about it because it is too their normal way of life. 

They rather die doing what they love best.  Drinking alcohol, because it comforts them where they are and they aren't ready for change,  and in that case, one has to live with the consequences of their addiction!

Beulah knew that it was a hopeless cause with telling Lenny's parents, but she had felt the need to at least inform them of the matter with their son.