What I Wish I'd Known Before My Fatty Liver Diagnosis

A diagnosis of fatty liver disease can leave you feeling confused, stressed, and worried about your future. It can be a challenge to understand how the condition will affect your body and your life. Here are some helpful tips for living with this condition from some people who are on the same journey. 

I was in complete denial when I was diagnosed. I wish I would have known that if you have a liver, you can get liver disease. I wish I would have realized that liver disease could run in the family. My dad died of alcoholic liver disease. My sister died of liver disease caused by hepatitis C. My niece right now has MASH. There definitely needs to be more awareness.  – Kim Martinez, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

My advice is to stay away from sweets because that sugar goes straight to your liver. Drink water. In the Hispanic community, a lot of us like eating things like carnitas, pork skin, and chicharrones. That’s the worst thing for your liver. It’s fat. In our menu, [so much] has to do with cornmeal: tortillas, tostadas, tacos. Cornmeal is nothing but carbohydrates. You have to be committed and say, ‘I want to be healthy.” – Grace Moreno, Naperville, Illinois

If you're really scared, use that as fuel. Show up for yourself. No one is going to do it for you. It's not going to happen overnight. – Aurie Llamas, Laguna Beach, California

I knew when I was 25 that my liver enzymes were elevated. [Doctors] told me, ‘You should probably go see someone.’ I didn't because I didn't have decent health insurance. Being in the Hispanic community, you frequently don't. I wish someone would have told me my liver could get worse. – Elizabeth Prather, Ft. Worth, Texas

I think within the Hispanic culture, we're raised with the thinking that the doctor is always right. So we don’t question them. The problem is that they're not.  You have the right to ask the questions and get answers. Go in with written questions. Most doctors will answer questions if you ask them. And if you feel that somebody is not culturally sensitive to you as a Hispanic person, then find somebody else who is. – Terri Milton, Houston, Texas

I changed my lifestyle. I was able to live relatively healthy for about a year and a half, and then at the end of 2022, I started experiencing some of the classic liver disease side effects. It was terrifying. I was struggling physically, which also affected my mental health. I was depressed. – Manny Martinez, Hercules, California

The doctor just said, ‘You need to lose weight and eat a good diet.’ She didn't tell me: ‘This is what you need to do. This is how you're going to reverse it.’ Nothing. So I Googled it and saw what was good for my diabetes and my liver. Now, I get up super early. I walk every morning. I’m on a strict diet. I know what to eat, what not to eat. I wish doctors would tell you more to help you. – Monica Govea, Round Lake Beach, llinois

[The most difficult part of this disease is] not that I have to curb my cravings, or that I have to struggle through another set of push-ups at the gym. It’s that I learned too late about this disease to help my mother. I really do hope that our community becomes more educated regarding this disease so that others don’t have to continue losing their loved ones. – Christopher Cron, Rio Grande Valley, Texas