Livin' the Liver Life?

Today is Happy Hearts Day. Last Friday was Love Your Liver Day, in my world.  I had a FibroScan, which is a noninvasive diagnostic device used to measure liver scarring or fibrosis caused by a variety of liver diseases, including NAFLD. It's much like an ultrasound: quick, painless, and nonsurgical. The other option to assess liver damage would have been a traditional liver biopsy, which involves sedation and large needles and removal of tissue and recovery time (and, let's say it together, nobody has time for that). Several days later, I'm still waiting for a doc's explanation of my results. But I can compare my numbers to FibroScan scales (provided online by another hospital) that indicate grade and stage of disease progression.  My Results Fatty Liver Grades Fatty Liver Stages My Controlled Attenuation Parameter is 275 dB/m, which shows I have a steatosis grade of S2: between a third and two-thirds of my liver is fatty. More significantly, my stiffness score is 7.3 k...

I had my GI consult appointment today. The doc seemed fairly unconcerned by my situation. That said, she ordered a bunch of lab work, set me up for hepatitis A and B vaccines (because I don't seem to have immunity) and a fibroscan (which measures the amount of scarring/liver damage) for later in the week, and told me to keep my appointment with the weight management clinic scheduled for next week.  Given preliminary blood results and my physical exam, she believes I have little permanent damage. Whatever I've been doing in the past month, it seems to be working, so keep doing it, she said. And the numbers don't lie.  In one month, the bad numbers plummeted and the good ones went up. I cannot remember a time when my overall cholesterol was under 200. The statin helps, but I'd say clean eating and consistent cardio have more to do with it.  So no, I'm not dying. I also do not have clotting issues or Celiac disease. I may have iron deficiency anemia, but we have to col...

I might have gotten someone in trouble.  A month ago, both my primary care provider (PCP) and my gynecology surgeon sent referrals to the hospital's gastroenterology department so I could get specialized care for NAFLD (and to see how much the disease has progressed and whether my liver has permanent damage).  A few days after the referrals, I sent a message via my online medical chart to gastro asking whether I needed to call to make an appointment or they'd call me. I received a snippy response saying they weren't doing anything until "the referral is accepted by the liver nurse."   And then nothing. My reaction was to assume that I was not being accepted. That for whatever reason, they rejected me and my fatsolivero. The only thing worse than hearing "Lose weight. Exercise" is hearing absolutely nothing. Crickets. Dead silence.  Last Thursday, I saw my PCP for an annual physical. When I told her the gastro office hadn't contacted me, she looked sh...

  For one month, I have lived without White bread White pasta White rice Sugar Red meat Starchy vegetables Soda Processed packaged food Fried food Added salt Alcohol I'm down 12 pounds .  I also logged about 16 hours of moderate exercise in January.  And I drank more than 2100 ounces of water .  Tomorrow I see my primary care provider. I'm hoping she orders another round of blood tests to see how my new lifestyle has affected those liver and lipid numbers.  I have to live like this forever. Or I won't live for long enough. It's doable. It has actually been enjoyable. I have more energy. I don't have aches and pains. I have been cooking yummy new dishes, including an amazing coconut milk-based Thai chicken soup with ginger and lemongrass and several rounds of red lentil pasta, crispy baked tofu, stir fry, veggie egg white scrambles with feta and Kalamata olives.  We are planning to eat dinner out tonight (the first time in a month). My husband is celebrating...

As an aside, do you realize just how NOT SEXY a fatty liver is? I mean, sickness isn’t sexy in any situation, but telling someone you have a fatty liver is like putting all your embarrassing faults and habits out on display for public judgement.   You eat like trash.  You are a slovenly, sedentary lump.  You have no willpower.  You have no goals or ambitions or focus. You’re generally disgusting.  Oh. Bad liver? You must be a raging alcoholic.    Hate to break it to everyone, though, but some studies have estimated one-quarter to one-third of the population have an undiagnosed fatty liver. For many people, there are never symptoms. I only realized mine when they did CT scans looking for something else and then saw abnormal bloodwork. Oh, by the way, you have a fatty liver. (Insert the words you know are coming: Lose weight. Exercise.)   You know what’s even more unsexy? And downright scary? The abbreviation I saw in my doctor’s post-visit notes as...

My family doc and my gyn surgeon both sent consult requests to the GI folks after perusing my CT scan and my bloodwork. My liver enzymes (proteins that speed up chemical reactions in the body) are higher than they've ever been, which can signal liver injury of some kind. Cholesterol's higher than ever too.  78 AST [standard range 0-32] 86 ALT [standard range 0-33] 287 Cholesterol [desirable less than 200; high more than 240] 196 LDL Cholesterol [desirable less than 100; very high more than 190] And now we wait to hear from the GI folks. Maybe it's a good sign they haven't called yet. Maybe they looked at my numbers and didn't think I was on my deathbed. If that's truly the case, a note in my online chart would be helpful. In the meantime, what do I do to keep my liver from getting fattier and to possibly reverse the effects? Lose Weight I know. Broken record. But it's more than just seeing the pounds drop on the digital scale. It's pretty much a whole ne...