My father was recently hospitalized with end stage liver disease(due to alcohol). He was sent home after 5 days, and having some fluid drained from his abdomen(which was infected). On a visit to his doctor today, he said they wouldn't be draining anymore fluid. His stomach is huge, bigger than when he left the hospital 2 weeks ago. Why wouldn't they want to drain that fluid? While we were told he has end-stage disease, no one would give us a time frame of how much longer he may have. He also had two esophageal varices in the past five years which, obviously, he survived. He spends much time in bed because the ascites makes his back hurt so much. Can anyone who has been thru this give me some idea of what end stage really means, and how much time my father may have left?