Hi all,
Today is wednesday, and my tuesday night cycler treatment didn't go as smoothly as the night before, first during my first drain - (Drain 1 of 5) - i just kept getting alarm after alarm, which displayed - check patient line - i did the usual, check for canks in the lines, and then i checked for fibrin in the line and drain bag - this was not the issue, i resumed the therapy again, and about five more minutes into the drain phase, the alarms welcomed themselves back again, and this time, i decided to call the Baxter helpline, and of course, that tedious process, i wish i could truly have avoided, but i had no other alternative, but to call for help, you know the drill, if you are a PD pt. that has dealt with this from time to time, (the recorder comes on, with english as well as spanish, and press 1 for english, 2 for spanish, then they ask you if you are a professional or a patient that needs assistance, and then you have to press 1 or 2, and then a live voice comes on, and ask for your account #, and then they ask you is this so and so (the pt. calling), sometime, i want to be smart, because it is obvious, it is the pt. who needs the assistance with their cycler, but of course, i try to contain my composure and be polite, and say, yes, (but inside i am aggravated), then as i am talking to the help rep, the alarm goes off once again, and they still ask, what is the trouble, and say, you did hear that loud alarm right! yes, well, that must be a problem with the cycler, and then he says, what does the alarm display, and i remark with "Check Patient Line", and before he could say anything else, i promptly say, before you ask, yes, i did do the usual protcol, to check for problems, i checked for canks in the lines, and i also checked for possible fibrin in the lines, as well as the drain bag and i also checked the tubing from the cassette, then he says something, that i never never really thought of, or had experience in my ten plus years of being on PD. He then says, maybe you need to check your line to your catherer, that maybe you may have some tape that needs to be loosen, and then i checked that, and that wasn't the case. He also told me to check my clothing, and i did remember, that i purchase these new summer pajamas, and the elastic was a little too tight over the catherer and tubing area, and i rolled my pajamas pants at the elastic under my stomach, and then i pressed go, and wow! you should have seen those drain numbers just going and going, so much as fifteen (numbers) at a time, he told me to wait until i complete the entire drain phase, and then it went to fill 1 of 5, and then i was on my way to a smooth sailing treatment for the rest of the night, by this time, it was 3 am in the morning, so i had to watch something boring on TV, to finally get sleeply, i watched some gary shandling on cable, that was truly boring as hell, it didn't take me no time, to finally get sleeply. I felt so bad for my husband, because all these alarms woke him completely up, and he had to be at work very early in the morning, but he didn't take long, before he was sleep, especially listening to that Gary Shandling Show (lol). Now, today, Wednesday, the morning is OK, but it is one of those hot days, after complaining about it being June, and it is still Spring type weather, today the heat came full force, Now, i am complaining about how hot it is, just never satisfied, right! Now, what to fix for dinner, because i be darn, if i am going to be cooking any full course meal in this heat. Oh, i know, i can prepare one of my famous renal friendly chef salads, but of course, the only heat i have to use is, a pot to boil the eggs for the salad. I will share my renal friendly chef salad, with you guys, i do share it in my first book - My Renal Life (i know it, i live it).
Glo's Renal Friendly Chef Salad:
Ingredients: 1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into cubes or Romaine (if you prefer)
or 2 heads of butter lettuce, cut into bit size pieces
4 oz. - low fat turkey ham, cut into strips or some roasted turkey breast (if you prefer)
4 oz. - cooked chicken breast (if you have some left over, optional) - cut into strips
2 eggs - hard boiled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup - sun dried tomatoes, chopped (if you have high potassium issues, optional)
1/4 cup - radishes, thinly sliced
1 avocado, sliced (optional - if high potassium issues)
1 tbsp - sliced green onions
1/2 cucumber - cut in little bit size chunks or even thinly sliced, if you prefer
1/2 cup - shredded mozzarello cheese (moderate phosphorus cheese - be careful if you have high phosphorus issues in your renal diet)
Instructions: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except the cheese, sprinkle the cheese on top., then pour dressing over the salad, and enjoy.
1/2 cup - French dressing - here is my homemade Light French dressing recipe)
Homemade Salad Dressing #3 - Light French Dressing
Ingredients: 1/2 cup - apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup - extra virgin olive oil 1/4 tsp - basil leaves
1/2 tsp - dijon mustard 1/4 tsp - celery seeds
3 tbsp - shallots - minced a pinch of salt
11/4 tsp - parsley flakes a pinch of black pepper
1/4 tsp - dry thyme 1/2 tsp - Mrs. Dash (table blend)
2 garlic cloves
Instructions: Mix all ingredients excerpt the garlic. Pour into a container, then add garlic, and mix well, cover and let stand at room temperature for 1/2 an hour. Shake well before pouring over chef salad ingredients.
I share this little story in my first book along with the recipe - (When i use to have one of my miserable days of hemodialysis treatment, this dish is so refreshing and rejuvenating, and so delicious, and every now and then after a night of the cycler alarming and not getting much sleep (i know you CCPD patients can relate to this), this dish really helps me to get over my very pissed off mood - so to speak).
I hope you enjoy this dish, as much as i do, i don't even miss the ham or the regular tomatoes in this dish as well, especially when i deal with elevated potassium levels from time to time., but ever since being on PD, I tend to cope with low potassium levels more often, so i can just pile up on the potassium foods, hallejah! i think that is the true benefit of being on PD, instead of Hemo, (not too much elevated potassium levels to deal with, but maybe from time to time), that is why this renal diet can be so challenging at times. Until next blog post, take care and all the best to my bloggers., Happy potassium and phosphorus levels.
Glo
No comments:
Post a Comment