But as his doctors performed additional tests to confirm his diagnosis, they came up empty-handed. The search for answers continued. At one point, Wayne, a resident of Boise, Idaho, was diagnosed with hemochromatosis, which means he had too much iron in his blood.
The treatment for hemochromatosis? Wayne had to regularly “donate” blood to remove the high levels of iron. But when his iron levels dropped too quickly, it became obvious that hemochromatosis wasn’t an accurate diagnosis.
“I’m an engineer and spent my life solving problems, so the challenge of understanding my own disease was vexing,” says Wayne. “I’d ask a lot of questions in the process of finding out why my surgeon had suggested I had liver disease and I even showed a photo he’d taken of my diseased liver during the gallbladder surgery.”
Wayne eventually connected via email with a liver specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who recommended he get in touch with Michael Charlton, MD, Director of Hepatology and the Liver Transplant Program at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.
Wayne and his wife made the 350-mile drive from Boise to Murray last summer for a magnetic resonance elastography scan that helped Dr. Charlton diagnose him with NASH, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which is also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The treatment plan was for Wayne to exercise regularly and eat a Mediterranean diet, which primarily included plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and healthy fats like olive oil.
Last month, Wayne and his wife returned to Intermountain Medical Center for a follow up visit to monitor his progress. During the visit, a newer technology known as Fibroscan — which is much less invasive than a traditional liver biopsy and delivers more accurate results — was used to monitor the stiffness of Wayne’s liver.
Intermountain Medical Center is currently the only hospital in the Intermountain West that uses Fibroscan technology.
The result: Wayne is learning to live with and manage his disease, and his new diet and exercise regimen are helping live as healthy as possible.
A recent article on Wayne in the Deseret News says: “He buys low-sugar tomato sauce, eats lots of vegetables, and swallows his olive oil, every day, like the medicine that it is.” Wayne and his wife are happy to have the answers about his liver and are making great strides in living a healthier lifestyle. And Dr. Charlton told the paper: “If every patient took on board medical advice to the degree Wayne does, there’d be a lot less work in medicine."
The treatment for hemochromatosis? Wayne had to regularly “donate” blood to remove the high levels of iron. But when his iron levels dropped too quickly, it became obvious that hemochromatosis wasn’t an accurate diagnosis.
“I’m an engineer and spent my life solving problems, so the challenge of understanding my own disease was vexing,” says Wayne. “I’d ask a lot of questions in the process of finding out why my surgeon had suggested I had liver disease and I even showed a photo he’d taken of my diseased liver during the gallbladder surgery.”
Wayne eventually connected via email with a liver specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who recommended he get in touch with Michael Charlton, MD, Director of Hepatology and the Liver Transplant Program at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.
Wayne and his wife made the 350-mile drive from Boise to Murray last summer for a magnetic resonance elastography scan that helped Dr. Charlton diagnose him with NASH, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which is also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The treatment plan was for Wayne to exercise regularly and eat a Mediterranean diet, which primarily included plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and healthy fats like olive oil.
Last month, Wayne and his wife returned to Intermountain Medical Center for a follow up visit to monitor his progress. During the visit, a newer technology known as Fibroscan — which is much less invasive than a traditional liver biopsy and delivers more accurate results — was used to monitor the stiffness of Wayne’s liver.
Intermountain Medical Center is currently the only hospital in the Intermountain West that uses Fibroscan technology.
The result: Wayne is learning to live with and manage his disease, and his new diet and exercise regimen are helping live as healthy as possible.
A recent article on Wayne in the Deseret News says: “He buys low-sugar tomato sauce, eats lots of vegetables, and swallows his olive oil, every day, like the medicine that it is.” Wayne and his wife are happy to have the answers about his liver and are making great strides in living a healthier lifestyle. And Dr. Charlton told the paper: “If every patient took on board medical advice to the degree Wayne does, there’d be a lot less work in medicine."