I wrote that title last week. I may have killed my liver this weekend. Jury’s still out.
As we’ve covered before, I’m not really supposed to be drinking. I still do sometimes (see above). I try to abide by the rules set by my doctor — no more than two drinks every couple of weeks. But, as you can probably already tell, that’s a really easy rule to break.
When I found out I couldn’t drink, I was actually pretty upset. I love beer. Like, love love love beer. I had just moved to New Hampshire, one of the best beer states, after enduring Oklahoma, one of the worst beer states (access to Santa Fe, Tallgrass, and Prairie excepted). And here I was, taking medication that doesn’t interact well with your liver, and denied something that I love.
So it goes.
Before I started taking my immunosuppressants, I had a few weeks of going nuts. I got in all the drinking I was sure I’d miss. Quitting drinking, in all honesty, wasn’t that difficult for me. I’d had quite a few bad nights of drinking too much while taking prednisone, blacking out, and playing Sober Detective trying to figure out what Drunk Bad Guy Stephanie had done. It was… not pretty. I’ve apologized to a lot of people for my behavior of 2014, and I’ll throw in another one here. It was a bad year and I did some dumb things. I’m very sorry.
So it goes.
But here we are. A year later. I still drink occasionally, have had a few bad nights, but for the most part I just abstain. It’s good for me. I feel a lot better. Not drinking is definitely nicer on my wallet… and waistline. But I still do it.
I have regular screenings of my liver and kidney function. My last tests? Perfectly fine. I was half expecting to find out that I had ruined my insides, or I was literally pickled from top to toe. But I’m not. I’m fine.
So I still have a liver! Hurrah!
How? 
As it turns out, and this should surprise no one, diet can do a lot for your liver. People with liver disease are often encouraged to eat a really well balanced diet high in carbs and fiber (so says Google and my doctor). What do you think I eat?!
Being a vegetarian (okay, fine, sometimes pescatarian) continues to be a good choice. Stop mocking me for it, pals.
Basically I’m just going to take this as a sign that I’m doing something right with my life. I’ve made good choices, albeit gassy ones. I’m sure my doctor would just tell me to stop drinking because it’s a gamble I shouldn’t be taking. Which is something I should really try now that I’m not surrounded by people who drink all the time… Sober living was weird, but amazing, and I should really give it a chance again.
I know this post isn’t as information filled as my usual updates, but it’s an important one. I mean, read about dying of liver failure sometime and you’ll see why I’m thrilled that I still have a liver. On second thought, just listen to this. You’ll never take Tylenol again.
Oh, and here’s a gif of my cat doing cat things. Cats always make everything better and less boring.
