NASH Took Everything - How Fatty Liver Disease Changed My Life Forever

Eight years ago, I was just like anyone else—busy, not paying much attention to my health, and oblivious to the storm brewing inside my body. What I didn’t know was that I had Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis, or NASH, the more severe form of fatty liver disease. NASH was silently destroying my liver, turning what seemed like a small issue into a life-altering catastrophe. Looking back, I wish I had known how closely fatty liver disease was tied to my future health. But by the time I realized it, it was almost too late.

I wasn’t always sick. In fact, just a few years before my diagnosis, I was living what I thought was a normal life. Sure, I was overweight, but I never really worried about it. At over 300 pounds, I had gained weight steadily over the years, but I brushed it off. I wasn’t diabetic yet, my blood pressure was manageable, and my doctor wasn’t too concerned. But what I didn’t know was that fatty liver disease was already working in the background, slowly turning into NASH, and damaging my liver bit by bit.

“Fatty liver disease is silent, but deadly.”

It all started with something small—swollen feet. My doctor prescribed support hose and told me to take it easy. Not long after that, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I wasn’t too worried; diabetes ran in my family, and I figured it was just my turn. But then came the high blood pressure, followed by more meds, and more trips to the doctor. I tried to lose weight, and I did—too fast. At first, I was excited to see the weight come off, but as the pounds dropped, so did my energy. Nausea, vomiting, constant fatigue—I knew something was wrong, but the doctors kept adjusting my meds without really digging deeper.

Then came the day I collapsed at home. My wife was crying, paramedics surrounded me, and I woke up in a hospital bed hooked up to machines, undergoing dialysis. My kidneys had shut down, my liver was failing, and I finally had a name for what was wrong with me—NASH. I had no idea that fatty liver disease could progress into something this devastating. But it had, and now my life was hanging in the balance.

“NASH is the dangerous progression of fatty liver disease.”

For those who don’t know, fatty liver disease occurs when excess fat builds up in the liver. For many, it stays benign—called Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFL). But for some, like me, it progresses to NASH, where the liver becomes inflamed, scarred, and starts to fail. I had gone from a harmless-sounding condition to a life-threatening one, and it was happening fast.

The worst part was, I thought I could handle it. I thought I could fix my health on my own terms, in my own time. But NASH doesn’t wait. It doesn’t give you second chances. I was losing weight rapidly, but it wasn’t because I was making healthy changes—it was because my liver was shutting down. I was constantly sick, unable to eat, barely able to move, and my organs were failing me one by one.

“NASH is relentless—once it starts, it’s hard to stop.”

Since my diagnosis, I’ve been in and out of hospitals, dealing with countless procedures, tests, and treatments. Fatty liver disease isn’t something you can ignore, hoping it’ll go away. It progresses slowly at first, but once it turns into NASH, your life changes forever. I have to think about every meal, every movement, every medication. One wrong decision could send me back to the ER, or worse.

And the stigma? It’s overwhelming. People think NASH is something you get from drinking too much. They don’t realize that fatty liver disease affects millions of people who’ve never touched a drop of alcohol. I was labeled an alcoholic by some doctors, dismissed by others who didn’t take my symptoms seriously. The frustration is unbearable.

“Fatty liver disease can steal your life before you even realize it’s happening.”

I wish I had known sooner how dangerous fatty liver disease could be. I wish I had understood that this wasn’t just a weight issue, but a liver issue, and that NASH was lurking around the corner. Now, every day is a battle to keep my health in check, to manage my diabetes, my liver, and my overall well-being. I’m grateful for the days I feel okay, but they are few and far between.

If you’re reading this and you’re struggling with your health—especially if you’ve been told you have fatty liver disease—please don’t ignore it. NASH isn’t just something that happens to other people. It can happen to you, and when it does, it’ll take everything from you. Don’t wait until you’re in a hospital bed, wondering how you missed the signs.

The future I thought I had is now uncertain. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I do know I want to use it to help others avoid the mistakes I made. Fatty liver disease is a silent killer, but you can stop it from progressing if you act early. Don’t wait. The time to take control of your health is now.