At the time we thought this was related to the knee replacement surgery she was scheduled to have in January 2018.  Her weight had caused problems with her mobility and osteoarthritis was causing her a lot of pain in her knees.

Following the knee replacement surgery, my mum started to experience brain fog and muscle spasms.  These spasms would lead to her making sudden movements such as throwing a cup of tea in the air.  Both brain fog and muscle spasms are common symptoms of liver disease but we thought these were side effects of her surgery.

Shortly after the surgery, she developed an infection, which required antibiotic treatment. In hindsight, this medication shouldn’t have been prescribed if doctors were aware that she had an underlying liver condition.

After a week of antibiotics, I visited her at home, it was the first time she had left her bed in days. As soon as she walked into the living room I was shocked at her appearance. I had seen jaundice before and knew something was definitely wrong. We got her an emergency appointment with her GP who agreed she needed to go into hospital. He thought it was a blockage from gallstones and so did the hospital.  She underwent a number of scans and tests over the next four weeks all the while deteriorating rapidly. By the time they diagnosed NAFLD it was already too late. She had developed encephalopathy and days later suffered a stroke. My mum passed away surrounded by her family in hospital.

Liver disease is often diagnosed late because the symptoms are either vague or non-existent in the early stages but also little is known about the disease by both the public and healthcare professionals.  Patients who are overweight and have high LFTs should be made aware of NAFLD and referred for further testing.  I think, if this happened, as the coroner suggested, my mum could have been diagnosed earlier and may still be here today.