Throwback Thursday: A New Adventure For Me Updated

Last year on December 4th, I launched my new Wordpress Health Coaching blog, Health Buddy Melissa.  I gave myself all of 2019 to learn all about starting a coaching business.  My blog has grown so much, and I have learned so much.  I am still waiting for my first coaching client, but there are so many other ways to make money with a blog.  I have not upgraded yet, my goal is the end of this year, to start making money in other ways.  If you would like to work with a Health Coach to be the healthiest and happiest you can be, visit and check out my available plans page.  If you would just like to check it out and see how much it has grown click here.  To see my original post, click here. 

Thinking of Next Year School Year and Online Education Classes for Kidney Disease

Well, I have been slightly busy this last month.  First my FIL came to visit, then I started back to work, and this past week my sister came to visit from NC,  An update on the Sjogrens Saga.  I saw the Rheumatologist about two weeks ago, hoping to have a lip biopsy to either prove or disprove Sjogrens as the cause of my chronic dry mouth, and eyes.  Just to put it mildly I was not impressed with this doctor.  At first a little standoffish and unfriendly.  However, he did warm up towards the end of the visit.  All my labs were normal, the last set, except for my C3 and C4 which were extremely low.  He said, and I actually agree that there was no way those could be correct, because I would have had other labs that would not be normal, plus I was feeling fine.  He said the lab that my insurance insists I go to does not have quality results.  Great, that is awesome!  He said I could do the test again through his company, and it would only cost 500 dollars as my insurance would not cover it.  Um, no thanks.  Then he told me he does not do the lip biopsy, that I have to see an ENT doctor.  Good grief already!  Another 40 dollars, and that is if my insurance covers it.  So, I have to find that out.  The Rheumatologist said he does not think is is Sjogrens because my labs had all returned to normal., nor does he think it is any Autoimmune Disorder, which I am actually ok with.  Because, I can not take any of the immunosuppressant drugs he would want me to take, one because my kidney can't handle it, and two I work in the medical field.  Having no immune system would not be a good idea.  So, now I wait, again.  This is why people don't go to the doctor, because it is ridiculous the way the system works.  On the renal side, my kidney continues to  improve, though they do not think it will ever regain full functioning capabilities.  The good kidney is holding up well.  I will be doing some of these online kidney classes offered by Davita.  They are free of charge, and you can take live ones if they are near you.  Online just works better for my very busy schedule.

On the homeschool side of my life, we are starting our 4th quarter tomorrow.  DJ is finishing up a very challenging Chemistry two semester course, and will finish up the second half in the fall.  He just really needs a break, so time consuming this class was.  He will complete Geometry over the Summer break, as he started it in February.  I will be registering him for the August SAT, but he does the questions of the day test prep, and so far he has a near perfect score for Reading and Writing, and the Math could still use a little work, but is not horrible.  He is looking at Santa Fe College next Summer or Fall semester.  We have a lot of prepping to do for next year, as it will be his Senior year.  He will be doing most of his classes on FLVs, with the exception of Japanese, and History.  He will do Japanese on Time4Learning, and History will be Greek Mythology, curriculum not chosen yet.  I will be looking at various sources for that, and will share them when I figure it out.

Caitlin will be in 8th grade next year, and this year I have discovered that she very much hates workbooks.  I chose Alpha Omega for her, for this year, and though not challenging she hates them.  Her Saxon textbook, my preferred Math choice, she does not like either.  She wants online Math.  So, we started using Easy Peasy Homeschool, middle school Math, and she is doing quite well.  We will finish up 7th grade Math using Easy Peasy through the Summer months.  Her writing is still not what I want, and I am unsure what to do with that.  My son did not like writing either, but he learned to love it.  I just have to find the right fit for her.  I will be looking at Teachers Pay Teachers for some ideas.  She has changed her mind and wants to do French instead of Spanish, and I will be looking at FLVS for her to do that.  It will be her first time using FLVS, and I think language would be a good place to start.  She absolutely hates History, and since it will be her last year where I can really pick and choose how I want her to learn, I think we will do video and living books on Inventors, famous Women, and Black History for her next year.  I will update as I go, and discover things to use.  I also have to really buckle down and start looking at putting together our portfolios for this school year.  Being sick, and having so much family visit, has thrown me off my normal organization path.  But, I have everything, just need to get it in order.  

Hurricane Preparedness for People with CKD Sjogren's Awareness Month

I live in Florida, I have CKD, and I need to put together a hurricane kit, starting in May.  Since I was just diagnosed in March, I thought to myself, how do I make sure I will be safe in a disaster?  So, after some research I found a preparedness list on Davita, that even tells you how to break down your emergency rations into meals for 3 days.  Since, here in FL you can lose power for many more days than 3 days, I probably will double or even triple the items for my CKD, and the others in my family as well.  I would recommend keeping the CKD items in a separate area than the other food, maybe ziploc bags or sealed containers marked as such in your bin, bag, or box.  One other thing I will be looking into, is that I can register with my electric company as someone with a chronic illness, and they try to get them people restored first.  I do not use Dialysis, but if you do, or have O2 or any other item that is life sustaining, make sure you register with your electric company for sure.  I will be summarizing the items for CKD, and then sharing the link to all the info.

So, because people with CKD can really only eat certain items of food, setting up an emergency food kit can be tricky.  Since I eat a lot of fresh fruits, and veggies, I was wondering how exactly I would eat, when a lot of store shelf foods are processed, and high in salt or sugar.  I am not diabetic, but that doesn't mean I should suck down a ton of sugar either.


So this is the items they recommend for a 3 day diet kit for CKD, I will state changes I would make for me due to preferences.

1-  3 packages of dry milk or 4 eight ounce cans of evaporated milk.  Evaporated milk can be high in sodium, calcium and protein, so they do recommend watering it down before using, half and half.  Be sure if you choose evaporated milk that you have a way of opening the can, or it will be useless to you.

2-  1 to 2 gallons of distilled or bottled water.  They noted that if you are on dialysis, and you have no power, you should drink only 2 cups of water per day until dialysis can be restored.  This is a very small amount of water so be prepared for that.

3-  Powdered fruit drink 1 can or single packets.  I personally will not be doing this for me, way too much sugar.  Straight water will work best imo.

4- 1-2 cans of soda, except for dark colas.  Again, I will just add extra water here, or 100% juice, and Ocean Spray is pretty much the only one I use because it has the lowest amounts of sodium, and no preservatives.  Apple and Grape juice are low in potassium so good choices there too.

5-  6 boxes of single servings of cereal.  Don't use Raisin Bran.  Cereal is actually a very good source of iron, since almost all of them are fortified with iron.  They are usually low in sodium, potassium, and protein making them an even better choice.  Always read the labels to be sure, and keep in mind most are very high in sugar.

6.  1 box of sugar, or sugar substitute.  I don't know about this one being in my kit.  I just don't see a use for it.  However, if you are a diabetic, it probably would be a very good idea to have some kind of sugar in your kit, in case your sugar drops.

7.  Cans, or fruit bowls, they suggested 12.  These need to be low in potassium, so no raisins, oranges, or bananas.  I think most other fruits are low in potassium, except maybe kiwis, but be sure and read labels before adding them to your emergency food kit.

8.  8 small cans of unsalted meats.  I have never seen completely unsalted meats, especially in a can.  I have seen low sodium tuna, but the others suggested I have not.  I will be putting peanut butter in my kit, not meats. Peanut Butter is high in protein, however it is also high in iron, and other important nutrients.  I will add low sodium crackers, not bread, to my kit.  If you add the unsalted meats be sure to add mayonnaise, or something to make it with, unless you are going to eat it straight out of the can.

9.  Like I said above, a loaf of bread, small jar of jelly, and small jar of honey.  I will be adding all these to my kit, except the bread.  Will substitute crackers for bread.  Ritz makes a low sodium cracker, and it is the only brand that I have found that does, at least where I live.

10.  A box of Graham Crackers or Vanilla Wafers.  I will add both of these to my kit, as everyone likes these. I have not checked the sodium levels on either yet.  If these are high in sodium, cereal bars will be used.  They have good amounts of iron as well as other nutrients, and everyone at my house likes them.  I think they probably have preservatives, but I guess in an emergency I can't be too worried about that.

11.  4 to 6 bags of hard candy. This one is probably the easiest, lol.  Of course these will be high in sugar, unless you buy sugar free.

12.  1 package of marshmallows.  Nah, no thanks.  I will probably do bags of pretzels or something.  I hate marshmallows.

That is the list.  Of course always remember a can opener, and utensils.  I mean you could eat like a caveman.

I could not find my list for medications that kidney patients should avoid, it was for transplant only.  I might share it anyways, because they are damaging to kidney, why wait until you need a transplant to avoid them if you can.  Remember, the amounts shared are for one person, you, the kidney patient.  If you have more people in your family you will need to double, triple, quadruple, etc depending on how many people are in your home.

How to Watch Your Phosphorous, Potassium, Sodium and Protein Intakes with CKD Related Disease and Sjogren's Syndrome

As I stated previously, I have been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease, stage 3, but it was improved with my last labs. I am praying for it to continue to improve, though I will never have two normal working kidneys ever again. The doctor can not tell me for sure if the Sjogren's caused the kidney issue, or if it was caused by something else. However, there are two major causes of kidney failure, uncontrollable high blood pressure, and Diabetes, neither of which I have. So it is suspected that if it was not congenital, which I do not think it was, it was most likely Sjogren's. Sjogren's does not just attack your lacrimal, salivary and nasal secreting glands. It can also attack other glands in the body as well. Neither of my doctors, to date, have suggested any diet changes, or a Nutrition referral. So, I did my own research, and put myself on a renal diet. I won't give specifics of the amounts I am doing, because if you don't have some medical understanding of conversion rates you could do yourself more harm than good, if you lower your amounts too far. Apparently doctors are not trained in nutrition, so as I said before you need to be an advocate for yourself, or assign one to help you. Ask your doctor about Nutrition and a renal diet, if you have CKD.

The kidneys filter out excess waste that your body does not use. The four main food culprits that can harm the kidney are phosphorous, protein, sodium, and potassium. Reducing some of these foods from your diet, not eliminating without a doctor order, can help the kidneys from getting further damage. Again, I must restate I am not giving advice, seek the advice of your doctor, everyone is different and you may have other illnesses that you have to be even more careful about your diet than I do. Your body needs all of these things, but you might need less, or more, than someone else.

I will start with the easiest one first, Phosphorous. Phosphorous is found in dark colas, and meat, mostly. Those are the two largest sources of Phosphorous. I have already given up Pepsi, and refuse to drink any dark colas, even diet. Meat, my portions are down to one to two servings a day. A serving of meat is a piece that will fit in the palm of your hand. If you are like me, and millions of other Americans, you probably are, or were eating 3-4 times the serving size per meal.  I can't forget dairy.  I quit dairy at least a year ago, maybe more, so I almost forgot to mention that one.

Sodium, imo, is the most difficult to control.  We over eat salt at such an excessive rate in this country, it is no surprise that we have so many chronic illnesses.  Salt is in everything, and I mean everything.  What I do for salt is I read labels, all labels.  Sodium has to be on there, even if it is zero, it is the law.  If a serving size of anything has more than 140mg of Sodium in it, I don't eat it, period.  We do not cook with salt, and if I add it, I add it to my own food in little pinches.  I have learned to enjoy other spices besides salt, and if you have a kidney issue you should not be using Sea Salt.  Also, if you have a kidney issue salt substitutes contain very high levels of potassium, so be very careful. Drinks, also have sodium in them.  Water is best obviously, but since I get very bored of just water, I use Ocean Spray juice blends only.  They are low in sodium, and use no preservatives or added chemicals.

Potassium is next.  I love potassium rich foods, tomatoes, oranges and bananas.  I no longer eat those things, or if I do in very small amounts even less than a portion size would be.  Since having  a low potassium level is just as dangerous as a high potassium, you really have to be careful when messing with this one.  Potatoes too, another favorite, are high in potassium, but you can leach them before using them.  I do this every time I cook them now.  Leaching involves, peeling and soaking them for hours in water, before cooking them.  When you do cook them, you have to drain the water and cook in new water.  Below I will share two websites that I love on nutrition for CKD.

Last but not least is protein.  Your body needs protein, but we Americans eat way too much of it, and some people eat enormous amounts to build muscle mass.  Again, meat, dairy, and legumes are the main sources of high protein foods.  For this one I do similar to Phosphorous, mostly avoiding red meat, and smaller portion sizes.  I do similar to Sodium in that if it is more than 140mg per serving, I try to avoid it, or get the portion size down to the amount I just mentioned.  Sometimes this means I am eating very little meat, but I would rather have a tiny piece of steak, than no steak at all.

You need Iron, Vitamin D, and Calcium all which the foods I mentioned are good sources of.  Your physician may recommend you take a supplement if you have CKD to be sure your levels do not go too low.  Iron is a hard one for me, because I don't want to take oral iron due to risk of constipation. So, since I am not diabetic I eat cereal at least twice a week, since most cereals are fortified with Iron, giving me a good safe source for my needs.

Eating out is very difficult, and I can speak to that first hand.  One of the things my family very much enjoys is eating out. I would say we eat out at least once a week.  I have had to majorly change my eating habits when eating out.  I have informed my family I will no longer eat McDonalds, or any other fast food, and if at a restaurant I always have a salad, and bread, then I pick the best dish to fit all the above and try to eat only a quarter to half of it, and bring the rest home.  I can tell you, if you have CKD, and don't want to be on dialysis, that is my goal to not be on dialysis, then learn to cook,  Pre packaged foods, fast foods, snacks and a lot of breads are all high is sodium and full of preservatives all which are bad for the kidneys.


These are two of my favorite websites for CKD.  I am still newly diagnosed, so I am always looking for good reputable resources for myself.  Davita, offers a great menu and recipe planner for CKD.  I love it.

Davita

National Kidney Foundation