Blog #492: Dealing With a Fatty Liver Diagnosis as a Neurodivergent

This past week has been some of the most challenging in terms of medical matters. While it isn’t as serious as others may think, this was a wake up that has required a major lifestyle change. Recently, I was diagnosed with a fatty liver by my new primary care physician.

Now, you might be wondering what it was like to receive a diagnosis of a fatty liver as a neurodivergent? Well, up until that moment, for a long time I had often used food as a coping mechanism. Using food was my ultimate vice to erase any pain or stress that was going on in my life. It was of course alarming to my folks, particularly my mother, but the more they pushed, the more I resisted. It didn’t take until the results from bloodwork that I also had high cholesterol among other areas that I needed to take all of this as a warning sign.

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Being neurodivergent, I am also not a fan of changes and to change my diet was a challenge in itself. However, the big question I kept asking myself is what is more important right now: food as a coping mechanism or having a willingness to find ways to live a healthy lifestyle and continue being around to focus on making the world a better place?

Naturally, if there is one thing that can be changed is the ability to adjust a diet than it is to replace a life. A life is irreplaceable, food is replaceable. Each time I had to have blood drawn, I had to think about the ultimate question on what my future was going to look like.

As you know, I hate needles and if I stay on the road I had been on, needles were going to become a part of my life. The fact of the matter is that a life without needles is better than a life with them. Having gone through two rounds of bloodwork over the past week, it further reaffirms that I want to keep the needles out of my life.

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Then, this may sound silly, but I also was requested to have an ultrasound by my doctor. Now, you might be wondering, how did I feel about having an ultrasound? Well, having an ultrasound mostly consisted of breathing and pressing on the stomach. You might ask, was this invasive? I would say probably not. Having an ultrasound didn’t involve needles or being in a hospital (which was a personal request of mine).

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That brings me to the next point to heeding the warnings of a fatty liver and that is staying out of the hospital. One of the places that I never want to be in is in a hospital regardless of the issue. I get that there are times where being in a hospital is unavoidable, but the more I stay out of it, the better.

I’ve actually been extremely fortunate that I have been able to avoid having to stay in the hospital for any circumstance. There have been many people out there that are so negligent with their health that they end up in a hospital to begin with. Being in a hospital is anxiety provoking to me and when one of the options of having an ultrasound was in the hospital, that was also a motivation.

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Finally, you might be wondering what lifestyle changes I plan on applying following this fatty liver diagnosis. Well, I’ve started adding more fruits such as apples, bananas and grapes; vegetables like cooked green beans and asparagus and also Starkist Tuna to have as my primary lunch source (I will also do a blog on why I have an interest with Starkist Tuna).

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But all of this circles back to a major source and that is my stress and anxiety. If I’m going to control my stress, I have to find other ways to cope such as exercising, watching classic and funny shows or cartoons. Furthermore, stress eating also brings down my creativity which affects me more just as a fatty liver. But I want to ask you all, have you ever had an awakening of sorts where you had to suddenly change your lifestyle for the better? Think about it and perhaps you will see that lifestyle changes are for the better as it is right now with me.

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Catch you all later!!