Update On Me!

Hello fabulous Superheroes! 

It's been a little while since I've made any noise and I am SO sorry for my absence! Unfortunately, my Lupus has caused my kidneys to fail so I've been in the hospital for the past two weeks. It sucks even more because there is a strong possibility that I'm going to be here for Christmas. Either way, I'm just going to keep positive and keep busy!

I started dialysis this week and man, it's tough! I did it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Friday where I am currently writing this blog. It doesn't hurt or anything but it's very draining on the body. It feels like the machine is slowly sucking out my energy instead of just filtering out my blood. But anyway, now that I'm doing dialysis, I'm being put on a renal diet. I just received some papers on my diet and now I see I'm going to have to get very creative with my food because the renal diet cuts out SO many of the things that I like!

In a renal (kidney) diet, I have to avoid foods and drinks high in potassium and phosphorus as well as limit my liquid intake. Now, that's not too horrible, but I still have a weakness for convenient food and juices so this is going to be a big adjustment. For starters, I'm going to have to cut out potatoes because they are high in potassium. I can't even have sweet potatoes, which are my favorite! Other high potassium foods that I can't have contain all nuts, tomatoes, mangos (another favorite of mine), milk/yogurt, CHOCOLATE, kiwi (another favorite), bananas, pumpkin, oranges and an assortment of beans. One thing that I really love to drink are Gatorades and I can't have that because it contains phosphorus! 

I also have to avoid fast food (obviously). A lot of fast food and processed food contains a lot of phosphorus. So I have to say goodbye to potato chips, hot dogs, nachos with cheese, chicken nuggets, pop tarts, ice cream, granola (even healthy granola), pizza, Nutri-Grain bar, donuts and basically everything else that I used to stuff my face with. 

Lastly, I have to watch my fluid intake. At the current moment, I'm not sure what my limit is but I know that I can't drink as much water as I want to anymore. According to the papers I got, I have to measure my fluids and stop when I have reached my daily limit. I thought that I could get away with just eating ice once I reached my limit but apparently anything that can be a liquid at room temperature can be counted towards the daily limits. This includes ice, ice cream, popsicles, and even JELLO!

This is definitely going to be something new for me. I'm going to have to get a cookbook and experiment with different types of foods since I pretty much have to use fresh products. I am now on a renal/low sodium diet and when I incorporate that with exercise, I'm sure the weight will practically evaporate. I'm definitely hoping to finally reach my goal in 2014 but for now, my main focus is taking care of my body and hope that my kidneys can repair themselves! At the end of the day, everything will be alright. They don't call me Superwoman for no reason!!

xoxo,

SUPERWOMAN