When Dr. John Lake from the University of Minneapolis Medical School invited me to be the patient voice on the Covid-19 subcommittee, I was over the moon excited – and nervous. Of course, I accepted. Then hubby and I sat on the back deck reading the bios of the rest of the team. These guys are hepatology rock stars! I had to wonder if I even had what it took to be on their team? 

Dr. Lake thought so, and he has trained many physicians in his tenure, in addition to being a brilliant surgeon. His resume includes past president of UNOS, the organ sharing network, in addition to many many medical boards. He’s also an editor—big time in the liver disease community. He’s authored hundreds of papers AND co-authored dozens of chapters of books about liver disease.

He asked me to be co-chair. What? I just blushed again while typing that. I still see myself as a liver disease blogger who fought hard enough to be alive today. Some of my early brain fog blogs are a spelling wreck. Geez Louise. I had been a college level composition teacher, and then, had sort of grieved the loss of ability to work with words at a higher ed level.

Could I do this AND make y’all proud?

Well, 5 months later, you can judge. They’re all carefully crafted to offer the most diligent advice and care for any liver disease patient in the world. In fact, doctors with the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease or AASLD have partnered with liver physicians, clinicians, and transplant surgeons globally. That network has grown even stronger during these past several months.

I’ve got to admit that these documents, Covid-19 and the liver: AASLD flyers for patients, clinics, and physicians changed my life. Yes, it’s about the fear of being a liver patient, and transplant recipient for sure. But it’s also about all who gather on the internet searching for factual information.

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This entry was originally posted on I help C on November 8, and is reprinted with permission.