The Sick Room

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Ugh, that's quite a change, CG. :ermm: Take care - I hope this doesn't take too long to get used to. I know I'd be lost without my half gallon of water and iced tea daily, especially during these triple digit hot summer days.
 
I'm not exactly sick, but I had an interesting talk with a specialist today - a nephrologist. :ermm: :ohmy: He's the same doc that Himself goes to just to monitor his kidneys since he's diabetic, comes from a family of diabetics, and wants to stay as healthy as he can.

Well, apparently my kidneys are OK (in spite of my Dad having cancer in part of one removed, along with half a lung, and along with a tumor on his bladder...in other words, don't smoke!). Instead, my current PCP decided that it's time someone specialized got my low blood sodium levels adjusted.

After decades of avoiding salty foods, not adding salt to most of what I cook, and drinking copious amounts of water...I have to increase my salt intake and reduce the liquids I drink. :wacko: Unlearning decades of habits. Not gonna be easy. [emoji38]
You know what's weird? I use quite a bit of salt - I even munch on it sometimes :ohmy: [emoji38] - and my sodium level is *still* low. I have to take a prescription sodium pill to get it up to normal.

The body is a strange thing :ROFLMAO: Good luck with your new regimen.
 
Does that sodium pill let you drink more liquids, GG? By the end of last night I was really missing water and tea. :( My throat is so used to being bathed in moisture that I ended up with a sore gland on the left side of my throat. :LOL: I was fine when I got up today, am still fine now...but I wonder if the gland will be barking again tonight.

Cheryl, I must easily go through a half gallon of liquid daily. Or is that a half gallon of liquid goes through me? :LOL: Either way, the doctor did say I should "try" to reduce my liquid consumption. I'm sure I'll be a good enough girl to cut back, but I'm not sure I'll be able to regularly keep the daily total under 50 ounces.
 
Does that sodium pill let you drink more liquids, GG? By the end of last night I was really missing water and tea. :( My throat is so used to being bathed in moisture that I ended up with a sore gland on the left side of my throat. [emoji38] I was fine when I got up today, am still fine now...but I wonder if the gland will be barking again tonight.

No, but there are other issues around that.
 
Well, I'm officially severely annoyed. Had an upper endoscopy a couple days ago. I've had 'em before, no problem. This time, problem. I can eat yogurt, drink milk, and eat double fudge brownies of all things, that's it. Went to lunch with a dear old friend today, had one bite of my unbreaded tenderloin (which was delicious, what I had), and it hit my stomach like I'd eaten broken glass. Same with any other solid food I've tried. I'd told the nurse about the eating difficulties when she called to check on me, but it's apparently no big deal. She said to see my local dr if it doesn't get better. Yeah, right. Just what I need, more tests. Guess I'll give it a few more days.
 
I've been having problems with eating anything after 4 pm. It's like I've stopped digesting. So I make sure I eat a good lunch. But I have lost weight, so maybe it's a good thing.
 
I've been having problems with eating anything after 4 pm. It's like I've stopped digesting. So I make sure I eat a good lunch. But I have lost weight, so maybe it's a good thing.

Same. I have a decent breakfast, then mid afternoon lunch which these days lasts me past the usual dinner time hunger bell that used to call my stomach. As we age, the digestion process slow down somewhat, I'm guessing.
 
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...As we age, the digestion process slow down somewhat, I'm guessing.
Maybe, maybe not. Both Himself and I can eat dinner as late as 11 PM, have a bit of fruit a few hours later, head for bed at 4:00 AM (me) or later (Himself), and still fall asleep right away. Nothing malfunctioning during the day, either. We come from long lines of cast iron stomachs. :LOL:
 
Maybe, maybe not. Both Himself and I can eat dinner as late as 11 PM, have a bit of fruit a few hours later, head for bed at 4:00 AM (me) or later (Himself), and still fall asleep right away. Nothing malfunctioning during the day, either. We come from long lines of cast iron stomachs. :LOL:

I get hungry later on at night also. Which has thrown off my eating habit as I used to know it. It leads to me sometimes having vivid dreams. :ohmy:
 
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I get hungry later on at night also. Which has thrown off my eating habit as I used to know it. It leads to me sometimes having vivid dreams. :ohmy:

Took the type write off of my fingers Caslon! If I eat anything (substantial) after 9 pm I have the most vivid dreams! Not scary but intense to the point I wake up panting!
 
Does that sodium pill let you drink more liquids, GG? By the end of last night I was really missing water and tea. :( My throat is so used to being bathed in moisture that I ended up with a sore gland on the left side of my throat. :LOL: I was fine when I got up today, am still fine now...but I wonder if the gland will be barking again tonight.

Cheryl, I must easily go through a half gallon of liquid daily. Or is that a half gallon of liquid goes through me? :LOL: Either way, the doctor did say I should "try" to reduce my liquid consumption. I'm sure I'll be a good enough girl to cut back, but I'm not sure I'll be able to regularly keep the daily total under 50 ounces.
Surely you should be reducing your liquid intake gradually not all at once. Not good to rush at it like a bull at a gate. Are you sure you understood the doctor because the recommended water intake for an adult is 2 litres (slightly more for an active male) and 50 fluid ounces is less than one and a half litres.
 
...Are you sure you understood the doctor...
If by "understanding" you mean did I mention to him that, for me, 45 ounces of liquid (give or take a few) is probably half or less than half of what I drink in a 24-hour period and yet he recommended that I do get it down to 45ish ounces of liquid, why yes, I understood. I rarely sip liquids because I'm thirsty. I just drink away at tea, and coffee, and back to tea (sometimes mixed with juice or lemonade) or water all day and into the evening - when I give up those things and have 5-6 ounces of wine. I've probably averaged at least 100 ounces a day for years - thus managing to liquefy myself into a condition the doctor called "[URL="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711]hyponatremia[/URL].

It's not like I work in a coal mine or dig ditches. The average person loses about 33 ounces of water a day just by existing and breathing. That is the minimum you need to consume. 45-50 ounces is probably what I should have been drinking all along.
 
How exciting Dragon... with you and I in the same age group, I must remember a heavy late nite snack. :LOL:

LOL - too funny! - but you have to consider the dream! Having an extreme intense dream about hanging up the wash, grocery shopping or sweeping the floor is rather a waste of intense, don't you think?
:LOL:
 
thus managing to liquefy myself into a condition the doctor called "[URL="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711]hyponatremia[/URL].

.

I sort of guessed that you were drinking so much liquid as to flush out all your electrolytes/salts. LOL - didn't know the name for it though. How about Gatorade in a pinch? Never had the stuff so don't know what it tastes like.

We have an orange flavoured electrolyte powder we would mix with water for horses that were sweating really hard. Tasted that once... sort of a watered down Tang. snicker/nicker.
 
I sort of guessed that you were drinking so much liquid as to flush out all your electrolytes/salts. LOL - didn't know the name for it though. How about Gatorade in a pinch? Never had the stuff so don't know what it tastes like.

We have an orange flavoured electrolyte powder we would mix with water for horses that were sweating really hard. Tasted that once... sort of a watered down Tang. snicker/nicker.

My Tetley would have loved that. If I'd been eating a orange and not rinsed off the juice. he'd lick away at my hands until he'd cleaned the flavour off completely.

(RIP, dear horse)
 
Back Again.

Good morning everyone. Well, here I am back again. After four surgeries in the same day on the one leg, they decided to go for number five. That was the kicker and winner. I just don't have the courage yet to face anyone in the building. Because if just one person asks to see my stump where my leg used to be, I will lose it completely and doubt I can make it back. I was in rehab and the only thing they taught me was how to stand up straight at the sink.

Pirate has a big sign on my door, telling everyone to leave me alone. I would be so lost without him.

This ghost pain is really getting to me. Specially on the heel of my missing leg.
 
Welcome back, Addie! We know you fought long and hard for your leg. :( Heal quickly!
 
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