I Choose to be a Liver

Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis........NASH for short. That is the liver disease I was diagnosed with about a year and a half ago. It is where (for whatever reason), my liver does not process the fats out of the liver and into my system properly so they stay and cause the liver to enlarge (mine as of last week was three inches enlarged), various enzymes to get out of whack (mine were elevated somewhat from my last visit) plus all manner of other symptoms. Some of the symptoms I experience regularly is itching with no rash (especially on my arms and neck), some random times of almost debilitating fatigue and mild pain in that right quadrant of my abdomen. There is no cure as such, but in the early stages of NASH, you can reverse the damage and symptoms by losing weight, sticking to a fairly strict diet and the infamous "E" word.....exercise.

If the disease progresses, it can and will lead to cirrhosis, eventually liver failure and, if no transplant, then death. Serious ending...not how I want it to be. It's the kind of thing that wakes you up at 3:00 in the morning and causes your mind to spin out of control. Yeah, we're talking mongo anxiety attacks.

So, as of my writing tonight, I am choosing to be a liver (no, you silly people....not the internal organ), but a Liver. A participant in Life. Someone who makes the conscious choice to do his best to live for many many years to come if it is God's Will. This means I will eat what I know is correct, I will lose weight and (if I have to), I'll even be more diligent about (gulp) exercise.

So, that's the deal. I figure that by writing all this out and announcing it to the world that I am putting the accountability factor out there. I hereby give any and all of you the right to demand an accounting of my progress (well, JoeB knows about that lemon pie he didn't stop me from eating tonight) and support and encourage me on my quest to become a Liver.

So for tonight my friends, this is the gospel according to Jimmy