National Liver Awareness Month

October is National Liver Awareness Month

I just found this out so I would be remiss not to talk about this. Very often the symptoms alone can be attributed to so many other benign causes that it is only in hindsight that we or our doctors connect the dots. And sometimes it is too late.

Below is an excerpt from an article from Yale Medicine that very easily could have been my story but my cirrhosis was caught before portal hypertension set in per my recent ultrasound. Thank God.

I also had the red spots on my face and chest mentioned on the article. You can see them in the photo on the left taken a week before I started my journey back to health. They are gone now. I had no idea, just thought I needed a better skin care routine.

https://ym.care/37t

“Why early diagnosis is important

Once NASH reaches an advanced stage, the only treatment is a transplant. That’s why it is important to catch it early, when only limited fibrosis, or scarring, of the liver is present, and can be reversed by weight loss and control of risk factors such as high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and blood pressure. If the scarring becomes permanent, the scar tissue will create bands throughout the liver that impair its basic functions and ability to regenerate. When this happens, a person is diagnosed with cirrhosis.”

I feel blessed now that I have the opportunity to freeze and/or improve my situation by mere chance. I believe that in short time, this would not have been the case. If drastic changes had not occurred, the trip downhill would be well on its way and I am so grateful to be heading back uphill.

I hope you will all pay attention to your body and be your own health advocate. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you what to do, ask questions and learn and push.

Love, Sue

#nationalliverawarenessmonth #nash #cirrhosis #healprydeliver #healthadvocate