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 ya’ll 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 brown 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.
Hearing doctors discuss the patient experience reframed my view of the physician and patient relationship.
Please keep reading, and click the links near the bottom of this page, and you’ll find several flyers that can be printed , emailed to your doctor, or shared on your website.
Some of the flyers are about specific liver disease and I’ll link directly to them. One that Dr. Tamar Taddei had a great suggestion, and was a super encourager for me, as well as being a lot of fun to work with. She’s an amazing physician and she knew we needed to cut through all the myths surrounding COVID-19.
Doug LaBreque is a veteran in the realm of liver disease. He brought the patient voice into every single conversation. Some of the paragraphs took weeks to develop, because he wanted YOUR questions answered.
Emily Perito is my favorite brainiac, and what a writer! Her heart toward pediatric liver disease and transplantation makes me want to hug her.
Ryan Kwok is a thorough and kind hearted hepatologist from Walter Reed, and was also the first one who called me to talk about some work we were doing. He was driving in early to do an EGD and banding and I felt my heart go out to him; here’s a dad, husband, and a really smart guy who wanted to be sure that the patient would understand what was being discussed.
FOR PATIENTS
- COVID-19 and Chronic Liver Disease
- COVID-19 in Children and Teenagers With Liver Disease or Liver Transplant
- COVID-19 and Viral Hepatitis
- COVID-19 and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- COVID-19 Myth Busters
- COVID-19 and Liver Transplantation
- COVID-19 and Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- COVID-19 and Liver Cirrhosis
- COVID-19 and Autoimmune Liver Disease
- COVID-19 and Alcohol-associated Liver Disease
All of this was wrapped up by the AASLD’s Julie Deal, who is kind of the glue that holds a lot of committees together. She makes sure that all communication is clear. Whether it’s a Zoom call, and edit group, or an email chain, we all show up due to her direction.
So just in time for The Digital Liver Meeting, please see the following schedule. I hope you can join AND also check out these flyers. It was a labor of love from all involved, and you’ve got to know, I’m so proud.
The Liver Meeting Digital Experience related to COVID-19, please see the schedule below:
ON-DEMAND from Nov. 9, 2020 – Feb. 16, 2021
COVID-19 and Chronic Liver Disease Connecting Patients and Physicians
Co-Moderators: John Lake, Karen Hoyt
- The Patient Perspective; David Urick
- Overview/Prognosis/Risk Factors; Elizabeth Verna
- Liver and COVID-19; Ryan Kwok
Friday, November 13, 12n – 1pm
Meet-the-Expert: COVID-19 and Cirrhosis & HCC – Information for Patients and Their Families
Doug LaBrecque
Saturday, November 14, 3:30- 4:30pm
Meet-the-Expert: COVID-19 and Liver Transplantation – Information for Patients and Their Families
John Lake
Sunday, November 15, 8 – 9am
Meet-the-Expert: NAFLD and ALD – Information for Patients and Their Families
Tamar Taddei
Monday, November 16, 12n – 1pm
Meet-the-Expert: COVID-19 and Children and Teenagers with Liver Disease/Liver Transplant – Information for Patients and Their Families
Emily Perito
Our COVID-19 programs paired with the Patient Engagement Group / Committee has created a AMAZING new opportunity for the hepatology community.
In addition, several other organizations, including Global Liver Institute are presenting. I hope you enjoy the meeting AND the documents – COVID-19 and The Liver: AASLD Flyers for Patients and Physicians.
XOXO Karen
