Liver cirrhosis and liver cancer?

My husband has just been informed that he has "slight scarring" on the liver and that his liver is enlarged. I have many questions regarding this, but PLEASE, I am looking for serious-minded answers, not for people telling me that he should stop drinking or other kinds of moralizing; it is hard enough as it is. First: the doctor said "there is slight scarring but no sign of cirrhosis". I don't quite understand this because I though scarring of the liver IS cirrhosis, although it might be at a very early stage in his case. Also, is an enlarged liver the same thing as fatty liver, or could there be other reasons for it being enlarged? Unfortunately, his main health issue is not the liver but advanced heart failure (severe dilated cardiomyopathy) and also COPD. He was told some years ago that he has Hepatitis C but then it was in a dormant state. Could his Hepatitis C have caused the scarring over time even if it has been in a dormant state? Also, when the scarring has started, is it bound continue? His doctor says that his liver is "working", although I'm not sure whether she meant that it is working without any problems or working at a diminished capacity. I have done a lot of reading and it seems to me that he has many of the symptoms ociated with acute liver failure: itching and small red lesions tered over his body, a brief (one day) period of yellow skin and vomiting, periods of flu-like symptoms with fever, loss of appetite, severe sleep disturbances, clay-colored stool, brown urine, and his nails have turned very light. Also, he quit smoking, not because of his own determination but because he lost taste for cigarettes, which apparently is a sign of liver failure. He also bruise and bleed very easily, and he is easily fatigued. Many of these symptoms are of course also ociated with heart disease, but it seems that they have become worse in the last couple of months. His bleeding and bruising can of course be caused by the heavy doses of coumadin he is on, but it seems that the bruising has gotten worse too. He is also getting easy confused and is becoming more and more forgetful. He is 60 years old. So, this is what I wonder: Can the heart disease and/or the COPD have caused the liver disease, or affect it negatively? And vice versa, what effect does the liver issue have on the heart disease and the COPD? His doctor wrote in the last report that there is no sign of ascites but he keeps saying that he feels very bloated and to me it seems like fluid, not fat. He often complain of discomfort in his lower right side and get winded very easily (also a sign of the heart disease, of course). How serious is this liver problem? If in fact he does have acute liver failure due to Hepatitis C, what is the outlook? I don't believe liver transplant is an option in his case due to his advanced heart failure and generally poor condition. If it is left untreated and he continues to drink (he has at least 3 beers and usually a couple of shots of hard liquor per day. I am desperately trying to make him stop or seek help, but I am not able to), what is likely to happen? If scar tissue continues to build up in his liver, how dangerous is it and what kind of life expectancy does he have? Is it a matter of decades or years/months before his liver gives in completely? How do people with this kind of disease typically die, slowly by wasting away or suddenly? If it is not acute liver failure, what else could it be? Does the complications of Hepatitis C always come from cirrhosis/scarring caused by it, or can it cause symptoms independently without leading to cirrhosis? And is scarring always a sign of cirrhosis or can there be other reasons for it? If so, how likely is it that the scarring does lead to cirrhosis (unless it is the same disease just at different stages) How great is the risk of developing liver cancer? Is this risk increased because of his generally poor health or is it determined by other factors? Please, please, any information at all would be of great help. I know that all these questions should be directed to his doctor, but my husband refuses to let me meet her, and he himself seems to live in denial and doesn't want to know anything about his disease. This is my reality, and any information you could provide would be gratefully accepted. Thankyou for reading all the way through this long question.