shame on you, you fool me once

So this post is looooong overdue. But it took me till today to be able to see my urologist. My kidney stones are basically a mixture of the two types of kidney stones people get. There are two types of calcium that make up the two different stones, you usually have one or the other. Well, my stone was a mixture of both kinds of calcium. My 24 hour urine analysis showed that I have very low citrate acid in my urine and my blood tests show the same the same thing, that I have low acid in my system. Doctor told me that I was born this way. Basically, I've had a birth defect for 25 years that no one caught.

Wondering how I treat it? Well, first of all, LOTS of fluid, which I've been doing ever since May. But I also have to get my acid levels up. If I wanted to do that organically, as in using food sources, I'd have to drink a GALLON of orange juice a day. I could probably do it, except for the fact that that would put a humongous amount of calories in my diet and also a ton of sugar. Like, to the point of making me diabetic probably, since I already have blood sugar issues that I've been able to control with just cutting down on sugary drinks. So instead of a gallon of OJ a day, I get to take pills. I have to take potassium-citrate twice a day. I'll start on one pill twice a day and then if it doesn't cause tummy issues, I'll move up to two pills twice a day. And also because it's potassium-citrate (you need the potassium to absorb the citrate correctly, like with calcium you need the vitamin D) I have to have blood work every so many months to make sure my potassium levels aren't too high. Yay, more needles! /sarcasm

But at least now I know why I get these stupid things and I can try to prevent them. As the doctor said, the treatment isn't 100%. There's no guarantee that I'll never have another kidney stone, but this makes it less likely that I'll have them. But the good thing is, I have a very mild case --aka my kidneys are mildly screwed up-- so I'm less likely to have more stones with the treatment than someone who has a severe case. The doc was like, I know it didn't seem mild to you, but it's definitely a mild case. It's like my Crohn's Disease. When I was diagnosed I basically thought I was dying my symptoms were so severe. Turns out I only have a moderate case of it. When I found that out, I had said to my mom, If my case is moderate, I can't imagine what people with a severe case go through.

So all in all, even though I have to take MORE meds (because we all know I don't take enough already) I'm pretty lucky. As far as what I eat, it doesn't matter because the stones aren't caused by anything I eat. They're caused by having screwed up kidneys. So that is definitely a good thing especially since I have so many restrictions from the Crohn's.

Next up for me today, Physical Therapy. The first one of my last four.... at least I'm hoping.

Hope everyone is having a good day today! =)

Love,
amanda: jaclyn's twin sister