I have patient compliance to thank for my normal MELD lab results

Today felt like a day worth celebrating. My latest round of labs came back for my model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, and every number — every single one — landed squarely in the “normal” range. It felt like racing through 10 stoplights on the way home and hitting green at every intersection. A full-body exhale in medical form.

To top it off, my mammogram came back negative for any signs of cancer. I wasn’t excited about having either of these things done, but when your healthcare team gives you marching orders, there’s no point pretending you’re anything but a dutiful soldier.

I wasn’t always so obedient. When I first landed in a nursing home after learning I had end-stage liver disease, I pulled stunts that would make any nurse’s eyelid twitch. I’d ditch the liquid meds I hated by pouring them into paper cups or sending them down the drain. Some made me feel sicker. Others tasted like battery acid. And I have yet to meet a single liver patient who enjoys the assault that is liquid potassium.

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Eventually, the reckoning came. A nurse caught on to my disappearing-cup routine and gave me a look so stern it could’ve straightened my spine. She warned me that skipping my meds wasn’t rebellion — it was flirting with death. I asked her to explain what each pill did, and after hearing what was on the line, I made myself a promise: no more skipping.

For the most part, I’ve kept that promise. Sure, I have occasional days when a dose slips through the cracks, but I correct it quickly. I understand that my life depends on these tiny chemical lifelines.

Patient “compliance” — as the medical world calls it — is basically a full-time job when you live with a chronic illness like metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). I’ve had to watch the eye rolls and hear the weary sighs when I admit I misread instructions or forgot a pill. Honestly, I deserved every one of them.

Years ago, when I broke my ankle — and not in the cute “rolled it on a curb” way, but in the “your bones now resemble abstract art” way — I learned another lesson the hard way. After a week in a trauma unit, I was sent home with pain meds that looked similar to the tiny red pills I’d been given in the hospital. I assumed they were the same dose. They were not. A week later, a home nurse reviewed my meds, listened to me mention my sudden hearing loss, and blanched. I had been accidentally overdosing, twice the safe amount, for a full week. Let’s just say I read instructions more carefully now.

Being a model patient isn’t easy. Medications come with side effects that make you glare at them like they’re plotting something. Life gets busy. Kids need to be picked up. Groceries need to be hauled. Sometimes you convince yourself you’ll take your pills later, and “later” quietly becomes “completely forgot.” Chronic illness doesn’t stop life from coming at you.

So while I’m basking in the glory of my good health today, I’m also reminding myself not to get cocky. The best tool I have for staying on track is my phone — apps, alarms, reminders, whatever it takes to keep me from earning those disappointed-doctor side-eyes ever again.

Every little bit of consistency helps. And when your labs come back normal, it feels like the universe is finally rolling out a few green lights of its own.

Note: Liver Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Liver Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to liver disease.

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