Dr. Doo did an endoscopy on my husband in 2013 when he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. I…read moream grateful to him for treating my husband at a time when he needed help. Dr. Doo seemed courteous and professional... thus, the 3 stars.
However I want to note that I firmly disagree with Dr. Doo's conclusion that it is not possible for cirrhosis to be reversed, and that there is no other option besides a transplant. Several doctors, including Dr. Doo, told me this, over and over again, when my husband was diagnosed with cirrhosis. And in my opinion there are many way better options besides a transplant.
My husband's MELD score was a 28. Within 3 months, it was down to a "9" and within 6 months (total) it was down to an "8" which is supposedly just about as low as it can get.
My husband was prescribed Pantoprazole, which he took for 9 months before we discovered it causes scarring of the liver. Although Dr. Doo did not prescribe this for him, I would think or hope he would have seen during the endoscopy, that my husband's esophagus looked great and he did not actually NEED to be taking this medication that even the FDA warns, can cause serious problems if taken for longer than 6 weeks. He was drinking aloe vera juice daily and his esophagus always looked very good. My husband wound up with osteoporosis and shrank 2 inches in height, and I believe this has a lot to do with the fact that he was on the pantoprazole, which is known to cause osteoporosis, in addition to scarring of the liver, low iron / anemia, elevated blood sugar, and a host of other things.
Thanks to alternative treatments, within about a year of his hospitalization, my husband was off every one of his 6 prescription medications, could kick my butt going up 5 flights of stairs (and I'm the runner, not him), and could run a mile in about a minute and a half with NO training. The man DOES NOT EXERCISE. I am really glad we did not listen to the doctors who said he'd need a transplant and would probably have to go on disability.
In my opinion, a transplant is not the only option, and it should be considered as a last resort. I have spoken to many people with liver disease, and recently spoke to a woman who told me that her mother (who was NOT treated at CPMC) was given a liver that was actually a fatty liver and it made her condition WORSE. So not only was she now going to have to be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life, but she has just been given a few months to live. By the way, her cirrhosis was caused by medications doctors had prescribed for her (Again, she was not treated at CPMC, this was outside California). There are MANY medications that are known to CAUSE CIRRHOSIS, so please consider it YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to look up the side effects of every single medication your doctor gives you! DO NOT expect doctors to warn you about all the side effects, because doctors SIMPLY WILL NOT DO THIS.
I also do want to state for the record that, to CPMC's credit, from what I've heard, they do NOT do "live" liver donations. They are only accepted from cadavers. I like to think that this is because they want to be able to see and inspect the liver to make sure it's viable (re: the woman who got the fatty liver, her daughter told me they refused to do a biopsy beforehand to see if the liver was viable, before she got the transplant... I kid you not). So, I believe CPMC may be one of the better places to get a transplant IF you're going to have this done, at all, but I think there are FAR better options.
There are several studies that show that there are supplements that are shown to reduce liver fibrosis... as a matter of fact, there are over a dozen of them. There are also two machines my husband used to greatly improve the blood flow in his liver.If you would like to know about these treatments, and see the documentation I have which backs this up, contact me through Yelp.
Again, I don't have anything against Dr. Doo personally, he seemed like an OK doctor but I really wish more doctors would explore the benefits of alternative treatment. The body - including the liver - really does have the power to heal itself.