PSC. LMNOPW, LSEPWY, WXYZ.

So about 3 weeks ago I had a scheduled appointment with an internal medicine specialist in anchorage. This is an actual sentence that came from my doctors mouth during that appointment. "According to your LP and your LFT, your AST, ALP, and ALT numbers are off and that indicates that you have PSC which is usually precluded by IBD." I immediately peed my pants and thought, OMG, WTF!? Ok, so that last part didn't happen, but I do have PSC or Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. For those who want to cut out of this early I'll give the quick and dirty version of what it is and you can keep reading if you want more info. PSC is a rare, hereditary liver disease that is usually found in northern European males. The disease is characterized by an irritation of the bile ducts within the liver, and slowly over time as that irritation produces scar tissue, the liver begins to harden and the resulting cirrhosis usually necessitates a transplant. I take Ursidol a drug originally extracted from the naturally resilient bear liver to sooth the inflammation, but the only remedy for this condition is replacing my liver with another healthy one. The progression toward liver failure is hard to predict so my condition and blood work will be closely monitored year to year. It was diagnosed relatively early, however I am in a higher risk category for colon cancer and other GI tract cancers. MRI's are now being used to detect liver issues so I will be having one done soon to see if they can more accurately predict my stage of the disease. The good news is that the medication (6 pills a day) isn't presenting any side effects and I feel great. The first photo is an MRI of a Sclerosed Liver, the second shows just the basic liver set up. You can see the large blue tree structure that enters the liver and the sister structure that exits the liver. Originally my PSC was discovered in a liver biopsy by an abnormality it the exiting ducts. Those ducts will harden and constrict as will the smaller drain ducts within the liver.
Clear and cold again today, i'm going to get coffee and read about some flash set-up's and hopefully take some pictures tonight.
cheers,
Josh
P.S. Lightbox is down, so my pictures won't open up with the cool framing, but if you click on them they should still open in a new window, you'll just have to click back to get to the next ones.