New Diagnosis Today

Nov 24, 2015

I had my 2 week post-op appointment today and got good news and bad news... 

I have lost 55 pounds since October 14 (12 lbs since surgery) and 11 BMI points, my incisions look good, and I'm doing great.  

The bad news is the result of the liver biopsy they did at the same time I had surgery... My doctor, though she did not tell me this before surgery, thought for sure that I had Cirrhosis because my liver enzymes were the highest she has ever seen in anybody who wasn't in ICU in the process of dying.  She said she was baffled and somebody "up there" likes me.  

So, I don't have Cirrhosis, but I have NASH (Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis), the diagnosis between Fatty Liver Disease and Cirrhosis.  The scariest part is that I scored 3/4 on the NASH progression scale and I had no idea that I was so close to having Cirrhosis!  I don't drink alcohol or do other things that contribute to liver disease aside from being overweight and taking medications that can affect the liver, so I was just blow away.  It's irreversible and there's not really any treatment, but at least I have an opportunity to prevent the progression to Cirrhosis.  The doctor said that this surgery probably saved my life, even more than I had thought.

So what now?  Well, I'm gonna keep on losing weight and wait for an appointment with a gastroenterologist who will do some blood tests and maybe an MRI.  The GI will check me for Hepatitis A,B, & C and check out my auto-immune system, for starters.  After that, who knows?  I am just relieved that I am recovering well and I don't have Cirrhosis.  Focus on the positives!  OH!  And I get to have puree'd food just in time fore Thanksgiving!  :D

Party on, Wayne!

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