There are some benefits to being an advocate.  Sometimes you get to be first. We just finished training and certifying our staff to do FibroScan tests.  As part of that I got to be the first one tested.  Getting to this point has been a long journey, about 9 months, so a birth of sorts though happily a painless one. Everyone shows off baby pictures, here is beauty for anyone who hasn't seen a FibroScan report. This is my new scan. Click on it if you'd like to see the full size view.

Although this note is about our screening project, it is also an opportunity to reinforce our view that with lifestyle changes it can be possible to improve liver health, even for a cirrhosis patient. 

For any who don't know the story, when I was first diagnosed with cirrhosis my Fibroscan was 21.5.  Today it is 9.6.  The measurement is the stiffness of the liver which is a function of how much scar tissue it has and in staging I started as a stage 4 and am now a stage 3.  Here is a chart of how my disease has progressed since I was diagnosed. This was achieved entirely by diet and lifestyle changes.

Because there is a lack of good information about liver disease and so much bad information, my wife and I were led to create the foundation and to become advocates for wellness screening for liver disease.  Our plan is to deploy 400 screening centers across the US and to screen a million people a year who are at risk but have no symptoms of liver disease.  We believe in warning people before they get sick that they are at risk. In case you don't understand how big the problem is consider how diabetes and liver disease are companions in a march to suffering that millions of people are now on.

If you happen to live near Texas City, Texas and think you might benefit from a Fibroscan click this link and make an appointment.

TEXAS CITY, TX FIBROSCAN SCREENING

Thanks for your interest in the foundation.  This is the beginning of an important period for us but is just one small step toward better health in our society.