Hey there FCS Community! My name is Jeff Wertalik and I’m 46 years old and have been dealing with extreme Hyperlipidemia since about 2005. But first, here is a little about me before all the medical stuff comes into play. I come from a family of hearty eaters complete with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who LOVE to feed people. It’s the type of environment where food is family. I’m also a larger person genetically as well. I’m a 6’5″ former collegiate offensive lineman and the frame to match. So, food and I have always had an intimate relationship. Along with a healthy appetite, I was also an average to above average consumer of alcohol. As a matter of fact, after college I ended up working at a large local liquor store who sells wine, beer, spirits and gourmet cheeses. I’m sure you can see where this is all leading.
As I said, I began to have some blood work issues back in 2005 and had to readjust my lifestyle. And I had a good amount of success, losing 50lbs, looking great and feeling ok but my bloodwork was still a complete disaster and so began my war with my body. For years I would diet on and off trying to get a handle on a healthy lifestyle and was totally unable to maintain any balance. I eventually just stopped going to the doctor. No one was able to help me figure out what was happening, and I pretty much decided it was not worth all the back and forth with little to no results. Then in 2012 I was introduced to our good friend… Pancreatitis. I weighed the most I ever had in my life and was living in total excess. My attack started at work and steadily got worse as the day went on. Eventually my wife took me to the emergency room where blood was drawn, immediately separated before the nurse’s horrified eyes and my triglycerides came back at over 7,000 mg/dL. I was in the ER for 5 days, where the treating doctor proclaimed to my wife that I was an alcoholic and needed to get help. Now, I did drink but it was not problematic nor was it a life issue. I started watching my diet, taking the prescribed medicine from a new doctor I began seeing, losing more weight and was on my way to fixing the issue, or so I thought.
For the next 7 years I dealt with five more pancreatitis attacks, a needless gallbladder removal and multiple dieting trends. I was still being told by doctors that I simply needed to improve my health with little to no direction and even meeting with nutritionists whose advice was “eat less food and more veggies”. I did have some success with extreme dieting (made me miserable) but never close to “normal”. At this point I had two children and was feeling like a failure of a man because I had a family relying on me and I was unable to take care of my own health, no matter what I tried.
Then on April 16th of 2019 my life was changed forever. At the “request” of my wife and mother-in-law, I was finally introduced to a Lipid Specialist, Dr. James Underberg, who looked at my history, my labs and my story and explained that I had hit the genetic lottery with FCS. He went through and explained all the medical terms, genetics, issues and the fact that there was little treatment available…. and I could not have been happier. An immense weight was lifted from my shoulders as I finally was able to see that this was not my fault. Yes, I could have done better in my choices, but this deck was stacked against me from the start. One of the biggest changes that I needed to make was alcohol. Dr. Underberg said that he would consider it malpractice to say anything other than I needed to put it all behind me… and I have not had a drink since. It was the easiest decision that I ever made and that’s saying something because, after 23 years, I am still working at the liquor store and am a buyer of domestic wines for the chain.
Well, over 3 years have passed and I’m still not the perfect patient, but I am constantly working, fighting and moving forward in this battle against my body. I found some amazing people within the community and am working on helping others find their way through this crazy genetic puzzle. Throughout my life, I’ve always taken solace in the fact that there are others who are facing the same struggles that I am and working with them. So, I’m doing my best to do the same, sharing my story to let others know that there is hope and we can get through this together. Much love to all.
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