How's It Going?

I’ve been home recuperating for a few days, and finally feel a bit like posting. I’m getting used to my new diet, although the fluid restriction may be a little hard to live with. It’s a little strange, because the things that are healthy for people with fully functioning kidneys are not good for me. Like whole grains, beans, oranges, tomatoes, cantaloupe. All of them have a lot of potassium, which can be dangerous if too much accumulates in the body. My body and the hemo can’t clean those toxins out as well, so I have to avoid those foods. Same with high phosphorus foods like dairy products; I’m limited to ½ cup a day of milk or other dairy. So no more late-night glasses of milk to help me sleep, or snacking on bowls of cereal, unless I’ve saved my milk allowance for that. I’m also supposed to have protein at every meal, like an egg or 3 ounces of meat. (Ken got me the niftiest little digital food scale for this!) It’s just a matter of moderation, and thinking about what I’m eating.

Last night I went to the hemodialysis center I will be using while I’m at home. Let me say that the people who work at these places should be blessed, one and all, for what they do. Every single person, from the nurse who hooked me up and watched me the whole time, to the social worker and dietician, were congenial and helpful. They made me feel at ease and right at home as soon as I walked in.

Really the process isn’t so bad … you just can’t go anywhere for 3 hours or so. Sometimes I get cold, or kind of tired, but it doesn’t hurt or anything. Maybe it’s kind of weird to watch your blood go in and out of you in these big tubes, but I don’t really think about it. I guess if the Lord wanted me to slow down, He couldn’t have picked a better way. I had something to read, crosswords to work, and my own personal 7-inch TV to watch if I got bored. Plus crackers and apple juice with ice chips to munch on. Does that sound like easy street or what? One guy had his laptop … I guess he could have been working, but I think he was watching a DVD. Modern technology, I love you!

Comments

[alicia]

I'm glad to hear that you are doing well. One of my office staff spent several years as the nurse at an OP dialysis unit and she tells me that the patients become like family.
I remember well those days with my dad before his transplant - the restrictions added on to the pre-existing diabetic stuff was really hard on every one. I hope that they find you a kidney soon. Are you at all a candidate for CAPD? that is what my uncle did for years. He loved it because it gave him mobility.They wouldn't put him on the transplant list because he had too many other complications from his type one diabetes (he eventually died from congestive heart failure at age 60 - after living with his diabetes for 57 years).