Here are some answers to some frequently-asked questions:
— Are you on a special diet now?
No -- this is the first time in years I'm NOT on a special diet!
During kidney failure, my system had trouble processing things like potassium and phosphorus. I knew the potassium thing meant I couldn't eat bananas. I didn't really try looking up all the other potassium-rich foods; it reads like a random list from every food group you can think of. (Bran. Raisins. Nuts. Sardines. . .)
The phosphorus was something of a problem, as the fizz in pop is provided by phosphoric acid. I actually was on phosphorus binders for a while. It felt like the Diet Pepsi was the only thing keeping me awake for life, so I figured this was at least a compromise.
Now, the only thing I can't eat is grapefruit -- either the fruit or juice. It's been found that a component in grapefruit increases the blood-plasma concentration of immunosuppression drugs by double or more. Because these drugs are beneficial at a certain level and can become toxic at higher levels, a dramatic increase could actually threaten Cheryl's kidney. Ongoing overconcentration of the drug could be deadly.
In looking this up, I came across a case study of a man who was actually a general practitioner who was taken to the hospital with blurred vision, racing heartbeat and tremors several months after a liver transplant. He'd been eating orange marmalade made with grapefruit juice on a daily basis for over a week, and by the time he got to the hospital had 10 times the optimum level of Cellcept in his bloodstream and was accumulating waste in his kidneys.
So -- no grapefruit!
How do you keep track of all those pills?
Thankfully, from the transplant to now, I've been able to go off some of my meds. Most notably, I've been able to drop my last blood-pressure medication since the nephrectomy, since apparently I'm not carrying excess fluids around. So, I'm down from 10+ prescriptions to six!
I still have 7 to 8 pills to take at a time, twice a day. I have four 7-day pill organizers and can stick a day's worth in my purse.
Most practically, I began practicing taking multiple pills at a time when I was first diagnosed, and can pop all 8 at once. This impresses some of the oldsters at SuperAmerica -- they probably wonder what on earth can be so wrong with me at my age that I need pills by the handful!
Why didn't they take your kidneys out through two slits in your back?
I've actually had primary-care doctors try to look for scars on my back even after I've explained the process to them!
Basically, the answer to this is "because they weren't there anymore." At navel level, they had grown to extend from my spine to the sides and front of my abdomen -- literally to the navel. If you push on yourself an inch or two lower than your ribcage, you should only encounter "gushy" stuff -- relaxed muscle and internal organs -- just as I do now.
Prior to removal, if you prodded me there, you'd encounter kidney, which pushed right back at you like a leather sack filled to the bursting point with fluid -- which is pretty much what these were.
A 9-inch incision in front was, I'm told, just enough to get the lefthand monster out. They weren't located in my lower back anymore; they were everywhere.
