Does someone’s words define who you are or what you can overcome?
There are many people that allow others words to define who they are and what they become and this can be most devastating to someone’s dreams, ambitions, and most importantly their life.
The Beginning of the Valley in the Mountain
Being on dialysis is not the easiest journey, but there are a great many lessons that can be learned and applied. I hope that through this blog that you will be able to learn the lessons that I found along the way.
One of the more challenging things you may face as a dialysis patient is the renal diet. When you have been able to eat and drink what you want throughout your life, and then you are told that you can’t eat this and that it does something to you. I would dare say that it can demoralize the human spirit to a point of no return.
As a dialysis patient I did my best to keep as healthy as possible, this included eating to the best of my ability on the renal diet. But after a while I got tired of the same old food, yes my wife tried new ways of fixing food, but after a while that would get old. Especially after looking and smelling the food that I could not have. It started out with one slice of cheese, then ended up to two slices, and then three. My lab work would come back and everything would be good, so why not eat a little more of those things that were on the no list. It was not long until comfortability started to set in and even when my blood work started to creep up the seem reply would come out of my mouth. Yes, I know that my Phosphorus is going up, but it will be better next month. To those that have been on or are on dialysis, you can see where this is going. I was going down a road that could have severe consequences.
The food I ate caused my health to deteriorate rapidly, and the blood work showed. I did not feel much different as it was a process of time, and I was warned when it first started that my phosphorus was going up, which was not a good thing. Every time I was told this by the nephrologist, I brushed it off with a laugh and said don’t worry, I just got a little careless this month and next month it will be better. Next month came, and we had the same discussion and the same reply came. Within a few months I was in pretty bad shape to the point my Phos level was dangerously high to the point that I was starting to feel the effects in my body. Then one day a new neurologist came along and was talking to me and decided to look at my blood work.
As he was looking at the results, his expression said it all, and he said this.
Young man, your phos is way too high and if something doesn’t change within 6 months you could go into Calciphylaxis which could lead to a slow and painful death.
As he said these words, something inside me broke. For what I heard was not if something does not change. What I heard is that I had six months to live. It seemed that everything around me stopped and all I heard was something breaking. That something was the will to live and every emotion that goes along with that will, and when I would look up, there was no one around to blame except the man in the mirror.
In the next blog, I will be discussing where the battle is and how to overcome it. Until next time, there are a few things you can do. First subscribe to the blog, so you don’t miss any new and exciting content. Share what you have learned as it may help someone along the way and finally “Stay encouraged along your journey, for you my friend are one step closer to the next peak.”
Kidney Trails 