People in general always want what they don't have. And in a way, I'm no different. As a dialysis patient, I had to have surgery on my left arm to insert a fistula, which in layman's terms means that one of my main arteries in my left arm is 'joined' to a main vein in my left arm to my heart so that through this, the dialysis machine can get to circulate my blood to clean it. I'm sorry I can't explain any better, but that's the gist of it.
This surgery has left a very obvious and ugly scar on my upper left arm. As a result, I can't wear anything sleeveless anymore because it's way ugly. Neither can I wear halter necks, spaghetti straps or anything shoulder-less. So, when I see an attractive woman with a halter-neck dress or blouse, for instance, I can't help longing to wear something similar but I never can now because my scars are just too obvious.
I also find myself longing for the kind of life I'll probably never have now. A life of international travel, being a hot-shot executive, having a five figure a month income, well, you get the picture. Now that I have a fixed dialysis schedule, I'm finding it harder and harder to find a job. This is because I can only work part-time because 3 afternoons a week, I have to go for my treatments.
To an average employer in this country, that means taking half-day leave for 3 days a week, or having MCs (Medical Leave) 2 afternoons a week and that is unacceptable. Added to the fact that there are many fresh grads out there, with normal bodies that can work full-time, so, my chances of landing a job are even slimmer than before.
I do have some assistance to pay for my treatments, which isn't cheap. I also have a very small disability pension but that doesn't include my meds and injections. Meager as my income is, I still have to bear the costs of my medication and hormonal injections myself. These injections encourage my body to produce red blood cells, a function usually carried out by my kidneys. Since my kidneys aren't working, I need 4 jabs a week to make enough red blood cells.
As you can imagine, I still live with my parents. How can I not? I can't work normal hours and I only have a pittance to live on. Of course I know some people who have it worse than me. They don't even have a pension (little as it is in my case), and they don't have parents who'll take them in because their parents have already passed on, they may have little children dependent on them. Yes, I know, I have to count my blessings.
But it's still hard to deal with sometimes. Especially when you're surrounded by wealthy neighbors and you know your ex-classmates are doing much better than you are. But you know what? Dwelling on these things will only depress you. I can only live my life one day at a time. I've started sending short stories to publishers. I hope to be able to generate enough income through my writing soon.
This blog of mine is for me to get into the habit of writing so I can write something publishable someday. Other than that, I've decided to sell my cross-stitch pieces here :
http://eowynincross-stitch.blogspot.com/
I'm always cross-stitching something or other. Except these days, I'm more busy reading. I've read that the more good books you read, the more it'll rub off on you, and you indirectly become a better writer.
I am just a mere mortal woman. I can only do my best to get through life despite my limitations. I know some people are more capable than me but you can only play with the cards you're dealt with. Self-pity will only make things worse. It will eat you up inside. So, I can only trust God and live my life one day at time. I know that there are some things I can never do, now that I'm on dialysis.
Why not a kidney transplant? If only it were that simple! As I've mentioned in my previous blog, in this country, if you've gone through a successful kidney transplant, you will be considered a 'normal' person and all financial aids will stop. And a transplant is not the be all and end all. You still have to spend an obscene amount of money on anti-rejection drugs. Nope! I know some people will opt of a transplant but I'm content the way I am. At least I'm getting some financial aid. And I now have to time to indulge in writing. I really hope to be a published author someday............
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Self-Control and Self-Consiousness
If you've been on dialysis for as long as I have, pretty soon, you'll start to get sick of the routine and start to get some sort of a death wish. I'm not saying all dialysis patients have a death wish but I certainly did. I started drinking water, tea, coffee, juice, soups whenever I wanted too, without care of how much fluid I was ingesting.
After years of tight fluid control, suddenly, I began thinking in a "Damned if I do and damned if I don't" kind of way. In other words, I started getting sick of watching normal people chug down ice-cold drinks and the like and started feeling this way : "Why can't I do it too?!".
Of course, as a dialysis patient, the cardinal rule is : watch your fluid intake, keep it down to less than 500ml if you can! But after doing this for so long, I guess I began to rebel. I started thinking : "Must I go through life thirsty and longing to drink more?".
Bad idea! Pretty soon, my pulse started racing and my blood pressure started dropping towards the 3rd hour of dialysis every time. And I mean every time! It got so bad that my blood pressure would even drop to 60/20ish! Now, that's bad! I mean, I was literally courting death. I felt bad too, when this happened. At these times, I was extracting 3 to 4kgs per treatment. Sometimes, I didn't even manage to extract all that I should because I felt so unwell.
My friends, the nurses, were justifiably worried about me. They warned me that if I continued this way, my fistula (the part of my arm that enables dialysis) could stop working altogether or my heart could eventually fail. I could even die but what happens if I don't die but keep dying. I would suffer an agonizingly slow death.
If my fistula failed, I might have to go on to CAPD and that's really bad news. I've heard that patients on CAPD can never shower again but have to clean themselves with a damp cloth to avoid getting the stomach area wet (to avoid serious infections) and I can't even stomach that (pun intended). CAPD means having a surgical insert in your stomach lining. You then have to do some kind of fluid exchange for around 30 minutes, 4 times a day everyday! To me, this is worse than being on hemodialysis (what I'm currently on, which means : you drop into a dialysis center 3 times week for a 4 hour treatment through the fistula in your arm).
Obviously, I was in a very bad and risky place! I realized that I have to go back to being disciplined with the way I was ingesting fluid aka. drinking. I have a digital weighing scale at home that I constantly use to check on my current weight. In this way, I keep an eye on my weight so I don't go beyond 3kgs. If I was really thirsty but was approaching the danger zone, I would just suck on an ice cube, but I can't do this too often either because each ice cube was 30mls of water, so I only do this if I'm really thirsty.
So far so good. I've been weighing in at less than 3kgs for around 2 weeks now. I've resolved to be disciplined and vigilant about my fluid intake for the rest of my life. I have no choice as I'd rather die than go on CAPD. Hemodialysis is way better. At least I still have some measure of freedom with it!
So, this is my 'new' resolve! I did have some iced-tea earlier today but I immediately weighed myself and I'm approaching the 2kg mark, so I'll have to watch it more carefully today. Don't want to go beyond 3kgs. So, I'll keep weighing myself and trying, keep trying to keep my weight gain to below 3kgs.............
After years of tight fluid control, suddenly, I began thinking in a "Damned if I do and damned if I don't" kind of way. In other words, I started getting sick of watching normal people chug down ice-cold drinks and the like and started feeling this way : "Why can't I do it too?!".
Of course, as a dialysis patient, the cardinal rule is : watch your fluid intake, keep it down to less than 500ml if you can! But after doing this for so long, I guess I began to rebel. I started thinking : "Must I go through life thirsty and longing to drink more?".
Bad idea! Pretty soon, my pulse started racing and my blood pressure started dropping towards the 3rd hour of dialysis every time. And I mean every time! It got so bad that my blood pressure would even drop to 60/20ish! Now, that's bad! I mean, I was literally courting death. I felt bad too, when this happened. At these times, I was extracting 3 to 4kgs per treatment. Sometimes, I didn't even manage to extract all that I should because I felt so unwell.
My friends, the nurses, were justifiably worried about me. They warned me that if I continued this way, my fistula (the part of my arm that enables dialysis) could stop working altogether or my heart could eventually fail. I could even die but what happens if I don't die but keep dying. I would suffer an agonizingly slow death.
If my fistula failed, I might have to go on to CAPD and that's really bad news. I've heard that patients on CAPD can never shower again but have to clean themselves with a damp cloth to avoid getting the stomach area wet (to avoid serious infections) and I can't even stomach that (pun intended). CAPD means having a surgical insert in your stomach lining. You then have to do some kind of fluid exchange for around 30 minutes, 4 times a day everyday! To me, this is worse than being on hemodialysis (what I'm currently on, which means : you drop into a dialysis center 3 times week for a 4 hour treatment through the fistula in your arm).
Obviously, I was in a very bad and risky place! I realized that I have to go back to being disciplined with the way I was ingesting fluid aka. drinking. I have a digital weighing scale at home that I constantly use to check on my current weight. In this way, I keep an eye on my weight so I don't go beyond 3kgs. If I was really thirsty but was approaching the danger zone, I would just suck on an ice cube, but I can't do this too often either because each ice cube was 30mls of water, so I only do this if I'm really thirsty.
So far so good. I've been weighing in at less than 3kgs for around 2 weeks now. I've resolved to be disciplined and vigilant about my fluid intake for the rest of my life. I have no choice as I'd rather die than go on CAPD. Hemodialysis is way better. At least I still have some measure of freedom with it!
So, this is my 'new' resolve! I did have some iced-tea earlier today but I immediately weighed myself and I'm approaching the 2kg mark, so I'll have to watch it more carefully today. Don't want to go beyond 3kgs. So, I'll keep weighing myself and trying, keep trying to keep my weight gain to below 3kgs.............
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Super Excited with my New Business Venture!
I'm always cross-stitching something or other. And I have a few finished unframed pieces in my collection. Today, I decided to photograph them and post them online for sale! This is my new business venture!
Check it out here! http://eowynincross-stitch.blogspot.com/
I hope you will like my work and order something! I will be posting new pieces as I complete them!
Hope to see you there!
Hugs,
eowyn
Check it out here! http://eowynincross-stitch.blogspot.com/
I hope you will like my work and order something! I will be posting new pieces as I complete them!
Hope to see you there!
Hugs,
eowyn
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Learning to Live Within My Means
It's a hot day! Again, I find myself longing to go to the nearby cafe, Coconut Groove to try their huge and icy Coconut Shake. I've never tried it before and it looks good on the menu. But it'll probably be a bad idea because 1) it's not exactly cheap 2) it comes in this huge jug which frankly to me looks like it could be shared with a family! Not a good idea for a dialysis patient like me; who need to control her fluid intake.
Also, as always, I have cravings for a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger, which again is not a good idea because of the cost, the amount of fat I'll be ingesting, not to mention sending my protein and phosphate levels rocketing sky high! Just think : 2 slices of cheese, 2 fatty beef patties, bad idea, not to mention the sodium. And don't even get me started on 'saving' money by ordering the McValue Meal, which adds more fat and sodium in the form of fries, not to mention the sugar-laden soda (soft drink) that comes with it.
But still I'm longing for something cool to drink as it's a hot day. So, what did I do? I went to the fridge and poured myself a small cup of ice-cold water! Ahhhhhhh! Bliss! So, you can save money if you really want to. Anyway, the sun out there is just frightfully hot, I don't even fancy walking out of this air-conditioned room where my computer is to get my burger or coconut shake.
If I'm hungry, my Mom's noodles will do. She cooked a huge batch to last us from lunch to dinner. I'll be saving money by not eating out. Inflation in Malaysia has driven the prices of everything up and up!; including cafe prices.
So, if you're hungering for some store bought food, ask yourself : is there anything in your fridge or pantry that is just as good, if not better and healthier? Then eat in, not out! Saves you money and you get to cool off in the comfort of your own home.
Just imagine popping your own popcorn with those cheap raw corn kernels. No butter or sugar, takes some getting used to but I think plain olive-oil popped corn is delicious! Then eating that pre-portioned bowl of popcorn and watching a movie on your DVD player in your air-conditioned hall! Now, that can't be beat! So, stay home when you can in your free time and be creative!
Also, as always, I have cravings for a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger, which again is not a good idea because of the cost, the amount of fat I'll be ingesting, not to mention sending my protein and phosphate levels rocketing sky high! Just think : 2 slices of cheese, 2 fatty beef patties, bad idea, not to mention the sodium. And don't even get me started on 'saving' money by ordering the McValue Meal, which adds more fat and sodium in the form of fries, not to mention the sugar-laden soda (soft drink) that comes with it.
But still I'm longing for something cool to drink as it's a hot day. So, what did I do? I went to the fridge and poured myself a small cup of ice-cold water! Ahhhhhhh! Bliss! So, you can save money if you really want to. Anyway, the sun out there is just frightfully hot, I don't even fancy walking out of this air-conditioned room where my computer is to get my burger or coconut shake.
If I'm hungry, my Mom's noodles will do. She cooked a huge batch to last us from lunch to dinner. I'll be saving money by not eating out. Inflation in Malaysia has driven the prices of everything up and up!; including cafe prices.
So, if you're hungering for some store bought food, ask yourself : is there anything in your fridge or pantry that is just as good, if not better and healthier? Then eat in, not out! Saves you money and you get to cool off in the comfort of your own home.
Just imagine popping your own popcorn with those cheap raw corn kernels. No butter or sugar, takes some getting used to but I think plain olive-oil popped corn is delicious! Then eating that pre-portioned bowl of popcorn and watching a movie on your DVD player in your air-conditioned hall! Now, that can't be beat! So, stay home when you can in your free time and be creative!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Meeting Myself Halfway
Loosing weight is an uphill battle even if you're not on steroids, but even more of an uphill battle with steroids. I was prescribe steroids by my nephrologist (kidney doctor) when my SLE was active. At that time, my weight ballooned up to 68kgs! Imagine being that heavy at 4 feet 11, I was overweight, bordering on obese!
No matter what I did at that time, the extra weight just refused to budge! To make matters worse, I had a tummy to rival that of a pregnant woman! And I was teased by heartless people for my tummy problem! To make matters worse, the steroids also increased my appetite. Now, I have a pretty good appetite even without the steroids but with the steroids, I was hungry all the time! And I had to eat a lot to fill my rumbling tummy! So, that made it even harder to slim down.
Then came the magical day when my doctor announced that steroid are not meant to be taken long term and that I'd be taken off the steroids from that day onwards. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! I don't have to take them anymore! And within a few short months, my extra weight just melted off and I've been maintaining at 56kgs ever since.
Of course, I'm a work in progress and I'm still striving to lower my fat levels to improve my body composition. In other words, I still have a little bit of a tummy problem that I'm striving to get rid off. But who knows, maybe if I listen to my body, I'm at a healthy compromise right now, but well see, I'll keep eating healthy and exercise and I'll see where that takes me.
I'm a member of Sparkpeople (www.sparkpeople.com), a website that teaches you how to be as healthy as you can be through proper diet and exercise; and they teach that you should never go through life hungry. If you're really hungry, you should eat enough, don't overeat.
After all, how fun can it be if you're hungry all the time and have a twiggy figure. It's better to be healthy and reasonably satiated. In other words, eat enough, not too little, not too much. And it's better to be healthy, slim and fit than to be skinny but hungry all the time.
And to celebrate my new weight, I've purchase some designer skinny jeans that were 50% off! And I'm loving the way I look in it! But like I said earlier, I'm still a work in progress!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Daily Decisions
It was a very hot day today. It was too hot for me to walk to the mini-mall nearby. So, my Mom dropped me off there at around 1pm today. The Easter Sale at the Christian bookstore officially started today, which was why I was so excited to go there.
I've had my eye on the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible for a long time now. The leather edition sells for above RM224! Because of the Easter Sale discount, for a limited time, I can get it for only RM179! So, this afternoon, I headed straight to the Christian bookstore and bought it! The last pristine copy left! It's like the Study Bible was waiting for me to buy it!
I'm so excited! I can't wait to delve into it tonight during my quiet time. I have extra motivation to read the Bible now! I've been rather lax lately, I hope my enthusiasm lasts though! Heck! I'll make it last! I've never read the Bible cover to cover in all my years as a Christian, well, this is the year I'll finally succeed!
After that, I went to an air-conditioned cafe, known as "Kitchen Creatures". It's a no frills restaurant with bright lighting and ample natural sunshine to make it an ideal place for me to do cross-stitch in. Well, since my Mom is giving me the entire afternoon to hang around here, I brought my cross-stitch along! Man, did I make progress on that project today!
"Hmmmm! What to order?". I finally decided on their home-made fish fingers as I just wanted a small snack, I already had lunch, some taiwanese meat sauce noodles, courtesy of my Mom, she brought it home for me (I ate before my outing).
The fish fingers were delicious. I then asked for ice and poured my little bottle of water that I always carry with me into the glass, Ah refreshing iced-water! But then, I was still v. thirsty, like I said, it was a hot day!
I then order some old-fashioned root beer, sweetened with cane sugar, NOT HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)! 40 grams of sugar, oh well! The lesser of the 2 evils, at least it 's not HFCS! (refer to article on HFCS on SP!). And it's not everyday I drink soda......
The 4pm rolled around. I was starting to feel hungry again, looking at all the delicious food the other patrons were ordering. I was busily cross-stitching by then. At around 4.30pm, I finally gave in and ordered a pizza. Now, the pizza's here only come in one size : 10 inches in diameter.
Oh Man! I can't finish that much pizza! Then, an idea come to me, courtesy of my SP membership! I'll brown bag what I can't finish home! Then I can have another meal of two for later or I can even treat my family to pizza! So, being a good girl, I ordered the vegetarian pizza, because I was supposed to watch my protein/phosphate levels, and only ate 3 slices, I ordered the waiter to brown bag the rest straightaway, so I wouldn't be tempted to polish it all off, it was delicious!!!!
When I got home, I was too full to eat dinner, but I figured some more vegies won't hurt, so I ate a small serving of bitter gourd that my Mom cooked. I was thinking, I shouldn't have ordered the pizza as my Mom cooked a nice dinner today, but hey! I was hungry in that cafe, surrounded by people eating pizza and pasta!
Oh, well! I just consider it a celebration of sorts for my finally getting my BIG treat : The ESV Study Bible! Man! It feels so good to treat myself! I can't afford to do that all the time though.......so the next treat will in the next 2 months of so........
I've had my eye on the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible for a long time now. The leather edition sells for above RM224! Because of the Easter Sale discount, for a limited time, I can get it for only RM179! So, this afternoon, I headed straight to the Christian bookstore and bought it! The last pristine copy left! It's like the Study Bible was waiting for me to buy it!
I'm so excited! I can't wait to delve into it tonight during my quiet time. I have extra motivation to read the Bible now! I've been rather lax lately, I hope my enthusiasm lasts though! Heck! I'll make it last! I've never read the Bible cover to cover in all my years as a Christian, well, this is the year I'll finally succeed!
After that, I went to an air-conditioned cafe, known as "Kitchen Creatures". It's a no frills restaurant with bright lighting and ample natural sunshine to make it an ideal place for me to do cross-stitch in. Well, since my Mom is giving me the entire afternoon to hang around here, I brought my cross-stitch along! Man, did I make progress on that project today!
"Hmmmm! What to order?". I finally decided on their home-made fish fingers as I just wanted a small snack, I already had lunch, some taiwanese meat sauce noodles, courtesy of my Mom, she brought it home for me (I ate before my outing).
The fish fingers were delicious. I then asked for ice and poured my little bottle of water that I always carry with me into the glass, Ah refreshing iced-water! But then, I was still v. thirsty, like I said, it was a hot day!
I then order some old-fashioned root beer, sweetened with cane sugar, NOT HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)! 40 grams of sugar, oh well! The lesser of the 2 evils, at least it 's not HFCS! (refer to article on HFCS on SP!). And it's not everyday I drink soda......
The 4pm rolled around. I was starting to feel hungry again, looking at all the delicious food the other patrons were ordering. I was busily cross-stitching by then. At around 4.30pm, I finally gave in and ordered a pizza. Now, the pizza's here only come in one size : 10 inches in diameter.
Oh Man! I can't finish that much pizza! Then, an idea come to me, courtesy of my SP membership! I'll brown bag what I can't finish home! Then I can have another meal of two for later or I can even treat my family to pizza! So, being a good girl, I ordered the vegetarian pizza, because I was supposed to watch my protein/phosphate levels, and only ate 3 slices, I ordered the waiter to brown bag the rest straightaway, so I wouldn't be tempted to polish it all off, it was delicious!!!!
When I got home, I was too full to eat dinner, but I figured some more vegies won't hurt, so I ate a small serving of bitter gourd that my Mom cooked. I was thinking, I shouldn't have ordered the pizza as my Mom cooked a nice dinner today, but hey! I was hungry in that cafe, surrounded by people eating pizza and pasta!
Oh, well! I just consider it a celebration of sorts for my finally getting my BIG treat : The ESV Study Bible! Man! It feels so good to treat myself! I can't afford to do that all the time though.......so the next treat will in the next 2 months of so........
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Some Minor Adjustments
Anyone can get used to anything, even if it is unpleasant or difficult. That's what I found out during my years as a dialysis patient. I've been a dialysis patient for 6 years and counting now.
At first I encountered less problems (after I got free of my IJC : which is the tube inserted into my jagular vein, that is, my neck before my arm access matured), as my body was still new to dialysis. But now, going into my 6th year, my heart is not as healthy as it once was, and the phosphate, calcium & potassium levels have accumulated in my blood due to careless eating.
As a dialysis patient, I can't eat like a normal person. Well, after 6 years I guess I kinda think : "What the heck! I'll die someday even if I'm careful anyway, so I might as well enjoy eating", and went on my merry way eating whatever I like, however much I like, "to hell with portion control!", until the doctor gave me an ultimatum.....
So, in a nutshell, I have to really watch my protein, phosphate (protein and phosphate are like partners : where there's protein, there's phosphate), potassium, sodium and fluid intake. No excuses, no arguments or my medical fees are going to go up. That is, the doctor has threatened to exchange my phosphate binder from the affordable Calcium Carbonate to the more effective & much more costly Lanthanum Salts.
Now, I'm already spending a lot on my condition as it is, so I guess I have no choice but to be a good girl and follow the renal diet closely. So, today I was preparing dinner for myself, my Dad and my brother, because my Mom was out and requested I handle dinner.
So, I thought, "Yay! I'm finally in control of the menu, so let's put this new diet to work in my cooking today!", If my Mom cooks something that's unsuitable for me, I just take less of the unsuitable foods and more of the suitable components but today, I was in control.
Omelettes? Well, I can't have egg yolks but I can have egg whites. Minor adjustment : I just separated the yolks from the whites and prepared 2 omelettes! One using the whites and one using just the yolks, my normal Dad and brother can have the yolks, I'll take the whites. A little more effort maybe, but it was just a minor adjustment. I didn't waste food and everyone's happy!
Meat, I can't have much, but I'm not just cooking for me, but for my Dad and brother as well, I'll just prepare a meat dish and they can have it, I'll either not take the meat or take just one small piece. Again, everyone's happy.
I also cooked a vegetable dish, that I can have, but not too much though, I have to watch my potassium levels as well, I also fried some potatoes. But before cooking the potatoes, I soaked them in water first after slicing them to leach out the potassium. No addition of phosphate to crisp up the potatoes, I just fried them fresh. I took just a few slices because potatoes have phosphate too.
Minor adjustments like these just take a little bit of effort but I have to make them because my life depends on it. If my phosphate & company levels get out of control, there will be some unpleasant and potentially life threatening consequences. I'll just have to adjust and control my desires for certain foods.
Minor adjustments, I can do that! It's no problem! After all, it's my life I'm prolonging!
At first I encountered less problems (after I got free of my IJC : which is the tube inserted into my jagular vein, that is, my neck before my arm access matured), as my body was still new to dialysis. But now, going into my 6th year, my heart is not as healthy as it once was, and the phosphate, calcium & potassium levels have accumulated in my blood due to careless eating.
As a dialysis patient, I can't eat like a normal person. Well, after 6 years I guess I kinda think : "What the heck! I'll die someday even if I'm careful anyway, so I might as well enjoy eating", and went on my merry way eating whatever I like, however much I like, "to hell with portion control!", until the doctor gave me an ultimatum.....
So, in a nutshell, I have to really watch my protein, phosphate (protein and phosphate are like partners : where there's protein, there's phosphate), potassium, sodium and fluid intake. No excuses, no arguments or my medical fees are going to go up. That is, the doctor has threatened to exchange my phosphate binder from the affordable Calcium Carbonate to the more effective & much more costly Lanthanum Salts.
Now, I'm already spending a lot on my condition as it is, so I guess I have no choice but to be a good girl and follow the renal diet closely. So, today I was preparing dinner for myself, my Dad and my brother, because my Mom was out and requested I handle dinner.
So, I thought, "Yay! I'm finally in control of the menu, so let's put this new diet to work in my cooking today!", If my Mom cooks something that's unsuitable for me, I just take less of the unsuitable foods and more of the suitable components but today, I was in control.
Omelettes? Well, I can't have egg yolks but I can have egg whites. Minor adjustment : I just separated the yolks from the whites and prepared 2 omelettes! One using the whites and one using just the yolks, my normal Dad and brother can have the yolks, I'll take the whites. A little more effort maybe, but it was just a minor adjustment. I didn't waste food and everyone's happy!
Meat, I can't have much, but I'm not just cooking for me, but for my Dad and brother as well, I'll just prepare a meat dish and they can have it, I'll either not take the meat or take just one small piece. Again, everyone's happy.
I also cooked a vegetable dish, that I can have, but not too much though, I have to watch my potassium levels as well, I also fried some potatoes. But before cooking the potatoes, I soaked them in water first after slicing them to leach out the potassium. No addition of phosphate to crisp up the potatoes, I just fried them fresh. I took just a few slices because potatoes have phosphate too.
Minor adjustments like these just take a little bit of effort but I have to make them because my life depends on it. If my phosphate & company levels get out of control, there will be some unpleasant and potentially life threatening consequences. I'll just have to adjust and control my desires for certain foods.
Minor adjustments, I can do that! It's no problem! After all, it's my life I'm prolonging!
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