thursday, august 25, 2011

hi all, today was a very interesting day. First, i was introduced to a fairly new dialysis pt., mainly new on dialysis. She stated she had been on dialysis for about eight months, and she is having the hardest time, with this renal diet. So, i told her that i had been following this renal diet for over two decades now, and i must admit, i still have my challenges from time to time, with this diet. I don't do that bad with monitoring my sodium, & potassium, but my phosphorus is another story, i do take my binders as prescribed, but my weakness is cheese and dishes cooked with cheese, though i try to stay away from the high phosphorus cheeses, and i try to make my favorite, mac and cheese, by using mozzarello, and maybe a tbsp. of shredded cheddar, (just to get that mac and cheese flavor), and i also use cream cheese, which is also low in phosphorus, and a little bit of brie, (which is also low in phosphorus as well). I told her to ask the dietitian for a chart, that states the low, moderate to low phosphorus foods. She then started talking about her long scare on her arm, (her access - graft). When she told me she had a graft, i said you must have those very small veins, like i do. Girl, i could share a story about my saga with numerous grafts. I continued by telling her, that previously i had four grafts in all, during my ten year run on hemo. And she said you were on hemo for ten years, and i replied with yes, but all in all, i have been on dialysis for two decades now. And she said, 20 years, you must know a lot about all that i have had to cope especially with this very complex renal diet. And i remarked with yes, but i still do have my challenges from time to time, and that is mainly because of all the restrictions placed on this diet, what to eat, what not to eat, what to eat in moderation, and what to limit in your diet, or recipe, or even what to omit altogether in a particular recipe. I did mentioned to her, that i share a great deal about this diet in my first as well as my second book, and also share easy cooking tips, and ways to enhance many of my recipes in my books. So, she ask me, can you share a few of your cooking tips from your book with me, and i said yes, i would be glad to, so i told her that you can get a salt taste without the salt, in many of the meat dishes, by using lemon juice & zest, if necessary and you can also enhance the flavor with ginger, in which i share my smothered lemon chicken w/ ginger in my 2nd book. So, i broke down and gave her the recipe for my smothered lemon chicken. I also shared that i enhance some of my dishes with varies wine vinegars, and maybe a dash of worchestire sauce for added flavor. I also told her i usually makeup my own seasoning blend, with a tbsp of garlic & onion powder, a dash of creole seasoning, a tbsp of mrs. dash table blend and a little dash of season salt, for added flavor, and with all these seasonings blended together, they marry so well together, and you don't have to add peer salt, oh, and don't forget about 1/2 tsp. of black pepper for a little spicy flavor. It depends on if you are making a beef stew, in which i add a dash of worchestire sauce, as well as red wine vinegar. She was so fascinated with what i was sharing with her, and she was writing a lot of what i shared with her as i spoke. Then we got back on the graft, and i shared with her, that when i was on my third graft, some people thought i was a drug addict, and even on one occasion i was even mistaken for a gun shot wound victim. So, you see, yes, i have had my issues, but since i was diagnosed with ESRD in 1990, people today know what is dialysis, and even know someone on dialysis, more so than back then, that is why people were identifying me that way back then. On another occasion, i will share with the stories about these mistaken identites, that i experienced, it is way too much to share at this present time. She said you have been through a great deal. I do share my entire 20 year journey in the dialysis world in my second book, and as an added bonus, i share my pre-dialysis days as well, so that readers can see, that they are so fortunate to be diagnosed today with CKD and have the creation of GFR to help in better monitoring the stages of CKD, GFR is a blessing in my opinion, and i wish to God, that it was in existence back in 1990, when i was first diagnosed with ESRD. It was almost time for both our 3 hour treatment session to be over. My treatment went very well, as we both didn't experienced that low b/p drop or those excruiating cramps. Well that is it for my blogging today, take care and all the best to my followers. Until next blog, HD, PD, HHD pt. stay compliant with your renal diet and medication regiment. Glo