A calendrical reminder, from my 5/4/24 posting on this blog:
today is (at least) three holidays, one deadly serious, two entertaining. … Four Dead in Ohio Day (remembering the 1970 Kent State shootings), Star Wars Day [May the Force be with you], and (in the US, where May 4th is 5/4) Dave Brubeck Day (for the 5/4 time signature in music [celebrated in Brubeck’s album Take Five])
Whassup? Every so often, a friend who, inexplicably, has not been following my postings attentively on a daily basis decides to catch up on things by e-mailing me to ask how I am, how I’ve been doing, what’s up with me, am I ok, or something else along these lines. Most recently, How are you? from a friend on 4/23; I told them more than they probably wanted to know, when something terse in between Not dead yet and Fabulous would have been enough.
If they wrote today, I’d be ready with a reply: fabulous. Well, as fabulous as it gets for a seriously disabled 85-year-old with (among other things) advanced kidney disease. This morning’s I’m still kickin’ e-mail to my daughter (somewhat edited and expanded):
Slept 6 pm to 4:12 am — 10 hours beginning to end, but only 8 hrs. of actual sleep, because of a long break for half-dozing sexual fantasies that crowded my mind and hi-jacked my body, culminating in a fabulous cataclysmic orgasm (a sign of robust general health). And then my first morning vitals (at 5:17 am) had blood pressure in my target zone (123/73) and pulse (at 64) as well.
Figuratively, I danced my happy happy joy joy dance. In actuality I methodically exchanged my soggy underwear for fresh, a morning ritual I’ve performed for 75 years now. But even the messiness of real life can be a delight. I’ve been given, all my life, to nearly dying from one thing or another, so it was inconceivable that I would live to old age; but here I am, with many of my gifts and pleasures either intact or transformed into others that are also valuable or satisfying. That’s just wonderful.
The 4/22 appointment with my nephrologist, Luis Alvarez. Who functions as my main doctor, since kidney disease is the Biggest Thing on my medical plate. He picked two things needing some adjustment: even with the diuretics I’m taking and the beta-blocker Metoprolol and my avoiding salt, my blood pressure was higher than it should be, so he recommended doubling the Metoprolol dosage, which I started immediately. And then, the level of potassium in my blood was on the high side. So, knowing I ate a good bit of fruit, both fresh and dried, he recommended cutting my intake in half. Not an easy thing to calculate.
The National Kidney Foundation on potassium. From their site:
Potassium is an important mineral found throughout the body. Potassium is needed for many of the body’s functions including conducting electricity through the body (also known as an electrolyte). This electricity is needed to keep the heart beating regularly and the muscles working properly.
Your kidneys help keep the right amount of potassium in the body. Hyperkalemia is the term for when the potassium levels in the blood are too high. Hypokalemia is the term for when the levels are too low. Both situations can cause health problems. In kidney disease, the body has trouble removing extra potassium from the blood. This can cause potassium levels to rise and lead to serious health problems. People with kidney disease are also at risk for low potassium, especially during earlier stages of kidney disease.
higher than 6.0 danger zone
5.1 to 6.0 caution zone
3.5 to 5.0 safe zone
2.5 to 3.4 caution zone
less than 2.5 danger zone
In blood tests on 3/27, my potassium level was 5.5, in the middle of the caution zone.
My fruit. Some fruits are more potassium-rich than others (bananas are famous), and peanuts (which I’d been eating — dry-roasted and unsalted — as snacks) are packed with potassium. I’d been eating dried fruit (cranberries, blueberries, cherries) in my breakfast cereal, a (small) mandarin orange at lunch, and some fresh fruit (pineapple, melons, grapes, strawberries, kiwi fruit — available in assortments from Safeway) as dessert at lunch and dinner. I’ve dropped the peanuts entirely, cut way back on the dried fruit (much more potassium-rich than their fresh counterparts), and dropped back to a chunk of pineapple as dessert.
I won’t know if this is working until my next blood tests for Dr. Alvarez on 7/17.
Enough for today. A few conditions are easy to report on: no more edema in legs and feet, which are healthfully gaunt. And less joint pain (from several causes) than I’ve had for years, a great blessing. Most of the rest is complicated, and I hope to report on it eventually.
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