Wow, it's like an episode of "This is Us" in real life. For those of you that don't watch the show, Kate is extremely obese and at one point is told she can't have a surgery because of her weight and the risks that come with it. I don't want to give you too many details to spoil the show, but let's just say it's an elective surgery, while this man had a life-threatening disease.

According to KARE 11, four years ago the man, 58-year-old Scott St. Michel, was diagnosed with NASH. "It is what some call the worse type of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease." He needed a liver transplant, but at nearly 500 pounds, doctors told him they wouldn't do it. That's when Mayo stepped in!

Apparently, he came to Rochester essentially, to die. He was referred to Mayo for Hospice. Transplant surgeon Dr. Julie Heimbach wasn't ok with that. KARE 11 says that she has helped pioneer a new approach to liver transplants that offers hope for obese patients. "Surgeons perform two surgeries at once – the liver transplant and a weight-loss procedure called a “sleeve gastrectomy,” which reduces the size of the stomach by about 80 percent." Scott was one of the first to undergo a surgery of this kind.

Watch his story. Can't see the video? Click here to watch. 

 

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