Being in and out of hospitals on a monthly basis over the past few years I assumed that my most recent trip the ER was going to go like it usually did, a few days of recuperating and I’d be back home. Unfortunately for me this wasn’t the case! Within a few hours of being admitted the Doctor came in with some pretty grim news. I was being transferred to another hospital where I would be meeting with the Nepherologist ( kidney specialist) to decide whether or not I would be diagnosed with dialysis treatment for my kidneys? I’ve been preparing myself for this moment as my kidneys have only been functioning at 39% for a few years now but despite my preparation, it’s never easy to accept something like this! I was depressed, frustrated and feeling very anxious about my situation and what was to come.
Once I met the Nephrologist (kidney specialist) I was told that I would be staying for a bit. Passing from hospital to hospital since the first of August was taking a toll on me as it was and having to be 1 1/2 hours away from home was going to be even harder as I’ve never been more than a 20 minute drive from home. A little bit easier for my wife and son to come visit every once in a while. An hour and half would be a lot of driving back and forth not to mention quite costly when it came to gas so the news of staying wasn’t exactly a cherry on top! After a few days of tests I was transferred downstairs to intensive care where they would be inserting a catheter into my chest for dialysis treatment, my kidneys weren’t doing enough anymore.
Obviously this made me extremely nervous but thankfully they administered narcotics to calm me down because I would have totally panicked without them! Procedure being done, dialysis started. To be completely honest, it’s not what I expected and I’m grateful so far that my treatments haven’t been too bad. I occasionally get numb fingers which I blame on the constant blood pressure monitoring and occasionally I feel kind of spacey but that’s it. Some patients get sick, pass out and just feel bad in general.
My diet is now a major factor in my life. Everything I eat has to be low-sodium, low-potassium, NO phosphorus which means even more label reading! On top of that I’m on a celiac and diabetic diet which makes my job even more difficult now as certain gluten-free products such as baking ingredients are a no-no for me. As for the rest of what I can’t eat, it consists of some of my favourite foods. Nuts, milk, cheese, turnips, tomatoes, bananas, ice cream, mushrooms and sooo much more! I’ve gotten used the unsalted part as salt was something that I avoided before this and the vegetable and fruit part of it have been pretty easy as I love them both. All-in-all it’s not as bad as I figured it would be. We’ll have to make time for the 6 hours of travel every second day for dialysis treatments which to me is the worst part of it besides the weight I’m losing with the nutrients being taken off during treatment.
Do you know of anyone who suffers from CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease)?
Comments are welcomed!
Holly & Jay
Follow us
Frugal Canadian Coupon Mom 