I betcha didn't know that October is Liver Disease Awareness Month. There isn't a lot of people with green ribbons running around trying to raise money and awareness to cure liver disease. There also doesn't seem to be a lot of people interested in liver disease.
Liver disease carries a stigma of being an "alcoholics" disease. Seriously, it does. I have had some interesting looks from people when explaining that Rick has a liver disease. Especially from people that don't really know us. The first thing people seem to think of when they hear that someone has liver disease is that they must be drinkers, or drug users.
It is sad that I have to explain that no my husband is not sick because of drinking, but that he is sick because he got a bad hand in life. Rick has liver disease and very rarely drank alcohol. We often joke now that it is too bad that we didn't drink more when we were younger.
My blog friend Shawnee has been posting some liver disease facts. I will probably "borrow" some of her facts and post them here throughout the month. I am trying to help remove the stigma from liver disease.
So stay tuned for some fun liver facts.
Until next time,
Jaime
Monday, October 5, 2009
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2 comments:
You know it! My husband had cryptogenic cirrhosis, meaning they never did figure out what caused his cirrhosis. It could have started out as NASH (non-alcoholic steato hepatitis), but they couldn't confirm that. He never was a drinker and that was confirmed to them through various tests. But he was grilled about his alcohol use by countless doctors, and others gave hints of their judgement. There is definitely a bit of a stigma. And you know what? Even if it is caused by alcohol or drug use, these people still need our compassion. I am afraid people withhold it somewhat because they feel like "they brought it on themselves" so they don't deserve our compassion. That is very sad to me.... Thanks for your work in bringing this to people's attention.
--Linda, Wichita, KS
I am 17. I have liver cirrhosis, and the doctors are not sure what caused this. I have never drank alcohol or used drugs.
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