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More Good Numbers


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 kPa, which indicates I'm just squeaking in below the moderate scarring stage. I'm between F1 and F2. 

The recent suggestion to keep doing what I'm doing continues. Hopefully, I can reverse that grade with diet and exercise (remove the fat from my liver) and avoid any additional scarring. 

I'm curious to hear back from my medical team. They ran a bunch of tests, and all seem to have come back within normal ranges except one. It looks like I'm borderline for iron-deficiency anemia. I'm guessing they'll put me on a supplement. 

Thursday, I'm off to the weight management clinic to make sure I'm on the healthiest path for cardiac care and liver longevity. I'll feel the weight lifted, pun intended, once I get official confirmation that I'm reading my results correctly. 

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