At the end of 2019, I established care with a new general practitioner. I was less than thrilled with my last doctor who didn’t want to run annual blood work because she thought nothing would change year to year if I didn’t change anything I was doing and she cited cost savings as her motive. What on earth? Not only do I have familial history of heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, I have insurance. I’m really glad I knew better than to just let that be.
When my blood work results came back, my doctor was concerned. My liver enzymes were elevated and more investigation was needed. When hepatitis was ruled out, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cirrhosis, or cancer were the remaining possible suspects and I was scheduled for a trans-abdominal ultrasound.
Honestly, I was scared. At 39, I had a lot of life I wanted to live and a LOT of responsibilities I couldn’t ignore. And I kept thinking of my husband and my kids and not being there for them. The five year survival rate for liver cancer is abysmal and I kept hoping NAFLD would be my diagnosis, even though I didn’t really know what it would mean.
On January 2, 2020, I was given the diagnosis of NAFLD, but not much else information from my doctor. According to her, I just need to not eat sugar, consume anything full fat, or drink alcohol. She also told me to lose 10% of my body weight and avoid acetaminophen. That. Was. It.
And so the journey began to learn what I needed to do to actually beat this disease.