Liver scarring

[x3beckaboo 3]

I had my surgery on the 19th and after my surgery, my surgeon pointed out that I was beginning to have some scarring on my liver. Which, my liver enzymes weren't crazy elevated. I felt embarrassed and worried because I want to improve my health greatly and I worry that this might put me back.. anyone else with this issue?

I'm only 26, so this terrifies me.

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[RickM 1,747]

I am certainly no expert on this (not even an MD!) but what I have learned over the years in this is that obesity is one major factor in liver disease, much of which is reversible if the obesity is reversed, so you are on the right road here. It is not surprising that he found some liver damage - it's fairly common in our obese population (and is why many surgeons impose those "liver shrinking" pre-op diets. My surgeon started out doing liver transplants, and moved into adding bariatrics as a means of treating the disease before it gets to his transplant table. Again, you are on the right path to helping yourself.

Now, rapid weight loss imposes an additional stress on the liver as it is a key component in metabolizing all that fat that we are losing, so it would not be unusual for liver numbers to be wonky during this phase. This also means that we should avoid adding any more stress to the liver during this time, so that means avoiding alcohol while you are losing weight (preferably longer than that or even forever, but at least during the loss phase.) This is not a temperance or morality play, but just our physiology (we frequently get new posters in these forums, a couple of weeks out from surgery asking when they can start drinking again...)

Talk to your surgeon about this when you see him again, but I suspect that you will get much the same story from him. If he is real concerned, he may send you to a hepatologist (liver doc) but most likely it will be something that is just monitored for a while and correct itself as your weight comes off and stabilizes.

[x3beckaboo 3]

Thank you so much. He didnt talk too much about it, probably because he isn't worried too much either. I see him next Friday, so im definitely going to ask. I just let anything health wise get into my head. Thanks again!

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