(no subject)
You really learn a lot from being sick with an illness that thinks your kidneys are bad guys.
You discover pet peeves, what foods you can't eat, and all this scientific mumbo-jumbo.
I'm grateful my kidney specialist is putting me last in his list of appointments. He told me I would probably take a long time and didn't want his other patients to wait that long. That's perfectly fine with me.
This time around, I'll make a cut on one of my grossest pet peeves. I'm sure those with squeamish stomachs when it comes to underparts will want to throw up when they hear THIS one.
I'll get started on pet peeves.
- It sucks going to the bathroom every hour. I usually have a good bladder, but my god, this medicine I have to take makes me pee like a racehorse. I'm just grateful enough it's helping shed all this waterweight I've been carrying. But going to sit on the toliet or any seat, then have 15 pounds of waterweight follow right after, is really stressful. As much as this sounds really bad of me...I wonder how people so full of fat (think as fat as any bear during the winter when they go and hunt before they hibernate) can do it. It nearly knocks the wind out of you. Literally.
- Speaking of wind, because I gained this waterweight so quickly, I have to really be careful when I talk, get up, and all that jazz. Because it put pressure on my organs and my lungs, my poor diaphragm works overtime. So, even sleeping can seem really nerve-wracking. I'm lucky if I get four hours of straight sleep. I had a crazy old demented woman as my next door neightbor for a few days, and she would wake up at the worst hours to complain she was dying. (Each time this happened, she figured out how to rip off her oxygen mask. Then she blamed it on the nurses for trying to kill her.)
That old lady is a completely separate pet peeve. I'd rather tell you myself how she was than type it out. It's funnier that way, too.
- My biggest pet peeve has to be in the food department. I can't eat foods containing a lot of potassium until they figure out what the hell my kidneys are doing. So that means bananas, oranges, peaches, nuts, and a bunch of other fruits are off my list of food edibles. It sucks because I like strawberry banana yogurt and if one of the few "fruity" yogurts I will eat.
Thankfully, a lot of the foods on the list are ones I don't eat, like asparagus, prunes, bananas, oranges (juice included), peaches, peanuts and the like.
The biggest pisser of all is potatoes.
Potatoes apparently are not just a starch - they are also a HUGE source of potassium. So if I want a potato, I can't have it.
If you all know me, you know Heidi + potatoes + big plate = GONE.
So being told french fries, baked potatoes, even my MASHIES are a no no - there is definitely room to cheat like a god damn motherfucker. Even if it's a tater tot.
Tomato sauce is also out of the question. It lists spaghetti and tomato sauce as one of the foods, but I see nothing wrong with spaghetti and butter just dumped in cheese. The tomato itself is the potassium bitch, not the pasta. So I can cook spaghetti and get away with a bucket of grated cheese :3
Pizza is very iffy. I think I can do Bagel Bites, but not a couple of slices of large pizza. I can't wait until I can eat like a pig again - I am so harassing Pizza Hut. To request pizza sauceless is just bad.
Oh yeah...I can eat pretty much everything else - waffles, bagels, bread, meat, cheese - just as long as the potassium content is low and salt is fairly low.
Mum has been taking the hospital a little too seriously with the "no salt" deal - I'm just on a temporary diabetic diet - a little salt retention won't kill me :/
Besides, I think you need a little salt to keep some of the juice your body needs.
At least I can have all kinds of juice - apple, grape, cranberry, the like.
It'll be better than salt-less chicken broth, that's for sure. IT IS BLAND AS ALL HELL.
- I'm so bored at home because I'm extremely limited in my activities. I can walk around, but I can't walk down the street. I can't go into the basement because there are no railings and I don't want to slip and fall; besides, I was banned from the basement. All the good stuff is in the basement.
I don't want to talk a lot due to the fact I get winded easily now, but the telly is still boring and holding my laptop in my lap makes my nerves twitch a little. Plus with all the waterweight I can actually FEEL my nerves working. It's weird.
Even working for Stoppies right now seems more fun. I just want to get up and walk around and put feeling back into being human.
However, too much exercise and I could end up in the hospital again. So I have to balance walking, sitting, and resting more than the average person.
It makes me sad because I want to go to the Artsfest, and this is my second time missing it due to a heavy obligation. However, I don't blame my mother for saying no; even if I did go, I would be so tired after 15 minutes I'd probably be passed out in the car. So Mum will pass on messages to everyone for me.
For the more good news, here's what I got:
- My blood levels are stable, although my red count is still fairly low. They were more concerned with white blood cells and platelets, so just as long as I don't try to stress out, they will go up as the weeks progress. That means HARD CORE LAZINESS ON PURPOSE. Beat that, Astra.
- My parents and I get along so much better since I've been out, which is great. Since my dad has been so knocked out from the whole ordeal (ooooh, the robot feels emotions), it's easier for me to not wake him up when he needs sleep. Normally we bitch every day at each other over something stupid, but since he understands how it feels to be incapacitated due to surgeries and other fun ailments, it's easier to talk to him about the grossest stuff. Mummy still kinda gets the weird look on her face.
- I kicked a few bad habits being in the hospital. I have fingernails again, which is great. They're a little rough, but I don't bite them because I'm worried there are bacteria in them that can aggravate my lupus. I wash my hands a lot, too, which is okay.
The biggest kicked-to-the-curb habit so far is the sugar. I had to give up a package of Pop-tarts to Matt because I tried to get myself to eat them; and I was so uninterested after ten seconds I had to give them away. So that means soda has been almost eliminated from my diet because even when I look at it, it looks so unappealing.
When everything starts getting as normal as normal will be, then I may just limit my intake. But it's amazing how being sick can completely change your food attitudes.
- Being on a semi-permenant vacation from Stop & Shop is great. I have to be on disability for a few weeks, so when I come back I have an excuse to fix everything. For now, I'm enjoying the fact that I'm not resposnsible for the shit going on there.
- The dogs, as well as all of you, have been so supportive. Hunzie figured out how to move the gate, and all he wants to do it just lay with me and make me happy. Unfortunately, the dogs are banned from the bedroom until my lupus is in remission, so their germs and like have to stay away from my bed. However, they are the best cuddle bugs when Schultz isn't barking at a bicycle.
Oh....I almost forgot my really gross pet peeve.
Because of the water weight, my vagina has swelled up real bad. I mean, One side of my vagina looks like a testicle. Feels like one, too.
It's really weird trying to sit and not think about it, but it's been making me a little unbalanced.
I know it has to be the waterweight because it doesn't hurt to pee. It's just really annoying sitting there and trying to wipe when you have a testicle-like vagina flap in your way.
So, I'm just pretending I have a ball and it's bigger than yours :D
If you choose to read it and you are squeamish, I am not to blame for you throwing up everywhere. I warned you >:o
As things progress, I'll keep you posted. Right now, all fares well. My sense of humor is pretty good, so maybe I'll try a few cracks at y'all when I get better at it.
Oh...I got the card from Lara yesterday, and it was really sweet of you guys to send that to me. And Jen - I DUN CARE, I OWE YOU A DRINK. Big time. :3
And sausage fingers. Lol. I don't have them anymore, but my toes sure are sausages :D
- Heidi
You discover pet peeves, what foods you can't eat, and all this scientific mumbo-jumbo.
I'm grateful my kidney specialist is putting me last in his list of appointments. He told me I would probably take a long time and didn't want his other patients to wait that long. That's perfectly fine with me.
This time around, I'll make a cut on one of my grossest pet peeves. I'm sure those with squeamish stomachs when it comes to underparts will want to throw up when they hear THIS one.
I'll get started on pet peeves.
- It sucks going to the bathroom every hour. I usually have a good bladder, but my god, this medicine I have to take makes me pee like a racehorse. I'm just grateful enough it's helping shed all this waterweight I've been carrying. But going to sit on the toliet or any seat, then have 15 pounds of waterweight follow right after, is really stressful. As much as this sounds really bad of me...I wonder how people so full of fat (think as fat as any bear during the winter when they go and hunt before they hibernate) can do it. It nearly knocks the wind out of you. Literally.
- Speaking of wind, because I gained this waterweight so quickly, I have to really be careful when I talk, get up, and all that jazz. Because it put pressure on my organs and my lungs, my poor diaphragm works overtime. So, even sleeping can seem really nerve-wracking. I'm lucky if I get four hours of straight sleep. I had a crazy old demented woman as my next door neightbor for a few days, and she would wake up at the worst hours to complain she was dying. (Each time this happened, she figured out how to rip off her oxygen mask. Then she blamed it on the nurses for trying to kill her.)
That old lady is a completely separate pet peeve. I'd rather tell you myself how she was than type it out. It's funnier that way, too.
- My biggest pet peeve has to be in the food department. I can't eat foods containing a lot of potassium until they figure out what the hell my kidneys are doing. So that means bananas, oranges, peaches, nuts, and a bunch of other fruits are off my list of food edibles. It sucks because I like strawberry banana yogurt and if one of the few "fruity" yogurts I will eat.
Thankfully, a lot of the foods on the list are ones I don't eat, like asparagus, prunes, bananas, oranges (juice included), peaches, peanuts and the like.
The biggest pisser of all is potatoes.
Potatoes apparently are not just a starch - they are also a HUGE source of potassium. So if I want a potato, I can't have it.
If you all know me, you know Heidi + potatoes + big plate = GONE.
So being told french fries, baked potatoes, even my MASHIES are a no no - there is definitely room to cheat like a god damn motherfucker. Even if it's a tater tot.
Tomato sauce is also out of the question. It lists spaghetti and tomato sauce as one of the foods, but I see nothing wrong with spaghetti and butter just dumped in cheese. The tomato itself is the potassium bitch, not the pasta. So I can cook spaghetti and get away with a bucket of grated cheese :3
Pizza is very iffy. I think I can do Bagel Bites, but not a couple of slices of large pizza. I can't wait until I can eat like a pig again - I am so harassing Pizza Hut. To request pizza sauceless is just bad.
Oh yeah...I can eat pretty much everything else - waffles, bagels, bread, meat, cheese - just as long as the potassium content is low and salt is fairly low.
Mum has been taking the hospital a little too seriously with the "no salt" deal - I'm just on a temporary diabetic diet - a little salt retention won't kill me :/
Besides, I think you need a little salt to keep some of the juice your body needs.
At least I can have all kinds of juice - apple, grape, cranberry, the like.
It'll be better than salt-less chicken broth, that's for sure. IT IS BLAND AS ALL HELL.
- I'm so bored at home because I'm extremely limited in my activities. I can walk around, but I can't walk down the street. I can't go into the basement because there are no railings and I don't want to slip and fall; besides, I was banned from the basement. All the good stuff is in the basement.
I don't want to talk a lot due to the fact I get winded easily now, but the telly is still boring and holding my laptop in my lap makes my nerves twitch a little. Plus with all the waterweight I can actually FEEL my nerves working. It's weird.
Even working for Stoppies right now seems more fun. I just want to get up and walk around and put feeling back into being human.
However, too much exercise and I could end up in the hospital again. So I have to balance walking, sitting, and resting more than the average person.
It makes me sad because I want to go to the Artsfest, and this is my second time missing it due to a heavy obligation. However, I don't blame my mother for saying no; even if I did go, I would be so tired after 15 minutes I'd probably be passed out in the car. So Mum will pass on messages to everyone for me.
For the more good news, here's what I got:
- My blood levels are stable, although my red count is still fairly low. They were more concerned with white blood cells and platelets, so just as long as I don't try to stress out, they will go up as the weeks progress. That means HARD CORE LAZINESS ON PURPOSE. Beat that, Astra.
- My parents and I get along so much better since I've been out, which is great. Since my dad has been so knocked out from the whole ordeal (ooooh, the robot feels emotions), it's easier for me to not wake him up when he needs sleep. Normally we bitch every day at each other over something stupid, but since he understands how it feels to be incapacitated due to surgeries and other fun ailments, it's easier to talk to him about the grossest stuff. Mummy still kinda gets the weird look on her face.
- I kicked a few bad habits being in the hospital. I have fingernails again, which is great. They're a little rough, but I don't bite them because I'm worried there are bacteria in them that can aggravate my lupus. I wash my hands a lot, too, which is okay.
The biggest kicked-to-the-curb habit so far is the sugar. I had to give up a package of Pop-tarts to Matt because I tried to get myself to eat them; and I was so uninterested after ten seconds I had to give them away. So that means soda has been almost eliminated from my diet because even when I look at it, it looks so unappealing.
When everything starts getting as normal as normal will be, then I may just limit my intake. But it's amazing how being sick can completely change your food attitudes.
- Being on a semi-permenant vacation from Stop & Shop is great. I have to be on disability for a few weeks, so when I come back I have an excuse to fix everything. For now, I'm enjoying the fact that I'm not resposnsible for the shit going on there.
- The dogs, as well as all of you, have been so supportive. Hunzie figured out how to move the gate, and all he wants to do it just lay with me and make me happy. Unfortunately, the dogs are banned from the bedroom until my lupus is in remission, so their germs and like have to stay away from my bed. However, they are the best cuddle bugs when Schultz isn't barking at a bicycle.
Oh....I almost forgot my really gross pet peeve.
Because of the water weight, my vagina has swelled up real bad. I mean, One side of my vagina looks like a testicle. Feels like one, too.
It's really weird trying to sit and not think about it, but it's been making me a little unbalanced.
I know it has to be the waterweight because it doesn't hurt to pee. It's just really annoying sitting there and trying to wipe when you have a testicle-like vagina flap in your way.
So, I'm just pretending I have a ball and it's bigger than yours :D
If you choose to read it and you are squeamish, I am not to blame for you throwing up everywhere. I warned you >:o
As things progress, I'll keep you posted. Right now, all fares well. My sense of humor is pretty good, so maybe I'll try a few cracks at y'all when I get better at it.
Oh...I got the card from Lara yesterday, and it was really sweet of you guys to send that to me. And Jen - I DUN CARE, I OWE YOU A DRINK. Big time. :3
And sausage fingers. Lol. I don't have them anymore, but my toes sure are sausages :D
- Heidi