Medical question

[proud2BlibKansan]

This is so sad. I am a teacher at an elem school and we just found out today that one of our little girls is dying. She was perfectly healthy a week ago. Then on Thanksgiving Day, she got sick. It was her liver. It failed Friday, they did a transplant and it didn't take. She is now in a coma and the doctors say there is no hope.

My question to any medical experts - WTF? Can a kid go from being perfectly healthy to liver failure in just a few days? We are in shock and struggling for answers. Her mom doesn't speak English and so we are dealing with translators to get more info for us. But I was hoping someone here would know if this is a bizarre isolated incident or what in the world could have caused this to happen.

Thanks.

[trotsky]

1. How tragic.

Here's a fairly informative page on childhood liver failure - lists some of its causes.

http://www.childrens-mercy.org/livertransplant/default.htm

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Thanks!

I'll check it out.

[hlthe2b]

2. Sounds like a toxic episode--drug reaction would be a possibility--

tylenol overdose can do this--poisonous mushrooms can do this as well...rarely a viral infection. But, I'd really wonder about a rare but serious toxic reaction to a medication. You mentioned the mother doesn't speak English-- some cultures use traditional medications/treatments/herbs which can be contaminated even if not traditionally toxic.

There are lots of other causes, but normally the child would have been ill prior to this...

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Her mom said

she thinks she took too much cold medicine.

They are from Honduras. We wondered about family remedies also.

Thanks.

[hlthe2b]

7. It may well have been tylenol overdose, then.... Also fits with the liver

transplant not taking-- it is their only chance, but very poor prognosis nonetheless...

Such a tragedy especially if language barrier was the key issue...

[Kagemusha]

3. Not a doctor, but consider this

Just because someone looks perfectly healthy doesn't mean she is. There's all sorts of things which can be aggravated by an infection or this or that... there are bizarre isolated incidents in the world. A lot of them.

If it's something else, then it's something else. Just saying there are medical tragedies that there's no way that people can detect without lots of medical equipment, training, and time.

[jdots]

4. Oy that is sad

i have no clue,it's just sad.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Many possibilities, but tylenol overdose (unintentional) would be my bet

for the most likely cause. People don't understand the potential for tylenol to trash your liver, because it's so common and available over the counter. That's why many "cry for help" suicide attempts that were not really in earnest, using this drug, wind up being successful.