Distraction

So I have not been feeling that well lately. I have been insanely tired, and I'm starting to have an aversion to meat again (which showed up during my July 2009 flare up, and for about 3 months leading up to my August 2010 flare up. ) Some nausea and loss of appetite and lower back pain. Mild enough that it could totally be hysteria, but enough to give me some concern.

 Last labs, done about a month ago, had some iffy numbers. The important stuff was awesome. Protein leakage, blood pressure, creatinine... all down. (Good news.) But then there were some numbers that were not so good. Like how my CO2 levels are down, so I have to drink this nasty sour salty medicine every night. Now I'm not sure what CO2 level being low means exactly. My doctor explained it in a lot of terms I distinctly remember learning and forgetting in Mrs. Porter's high school biology class. But it's a side effect of low renal function. So is the anemia, which has shown up again. (Explains the tired.)

Now, I'm used to the side effects of medicines. The puffy feet, the shortness of breath, the crappy cardiovascular abilities. These are from medicines, not disease. Healthy people can have medicine side effects. (Healthy people aren't usually on the BP meds that cause these... but that's not the point.) My dismay about these particular numbers being off is that these are a direct result of renal insufficiency. These are disease side effects. I was perfectly happy going along as if nothing was really wrong with me, for the most part. I watch the diet, I take my pills (down to only 7 a day now, which seems quite light.) But I'm seeing real chemical changes in my body other than the obvious creatinine levels being elevated. My labs are starting to show more "off" parts, which mean that my sick little kidneys are in fact puttering out. 

Anyway, long story short, I had labs done yesterday morning and while the results should be back by now, my doctor's office is closed until Tuesday, in observance of Memorial Day. So I'll know them if I have anything to legitimately be alarmed about, or if I should just quit whining about my labs not looking like a healthy 27 year old because I'm not one. So in the form of distraction until Tuesday, I give you some garden pictures.

1. Look how green my grass is! (And by grass I mean stubby, sad grass that can't hold a candle to lush, Sugar Land St. Augustine... and clover.) We had some good soaking rains. Of course, we also have mosquitos now, which I don't actually remember ever seeing in Waco before now.

2. My green bell peppers are producing again. For a while I was worried that I got the only two I was going to get.

3. Okra! Did I tell you I had okra? These two were purchased for $0.50 at HEB. They seemed promising in a Charlie Brown Tree way. So I stuck them in a pot. Also note the little basil seedlings coming up. Whee!

4. WTF?

5. Also WTF? My parsley was doing great and suddenly it's all, "Meh. I don't wanna."

6. My cilantro, too. Meh. Maybe that's what started the parsley in getting all lame. I blame the 100 degree weather and my sun-baked little patio. Potato is doing well, I think.

In other news, I made breakfast tacos! Not super low in protein, sodium, or cholesterol, but they were really good. (Actually, they were mostly made from whites, so kinda low cholesterol... until the bacon.) The secret is taking some chopped onion and bell pepper and jarred salsa and heating it in a skillet for a little bit while I cook the eggs. Nice and roasty.  Also, HEB whole wheat tortillas from the bakery are super tasty. Also featured: red bell peppers, strawberries, eggs, one crumbled piece of bacon, and colby jack cheese. And "Simply Apple" fresh apple juice.

Other, other news: Went to my husband's 10 year high school reunion. It was a lot of fun. And on the way back we stopped in College Station to meet some more friends at Blue Baker, which is a magical place. We picked up some garlic herb bread and some focaccia. Om nom nom. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go inside. I had been sitting outside in my skychair for about 2 hours, but it's quite dark now and I am afraid of the dark. 

Red Wine Tomato Pasta

I have neglected to include my favorite go-to meal. I got it from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine probably 7 years ago or so, and I make it all the time. It's made of ingredients I always have on hand, so if I decide I don't feel like thinking too hard about dinner, here it is. It happens to be one of the only things I can stomach when I am having kidney-related loss of appetite. It's also a hell of a hangover cure. Or so I hear. ;-)

Red Wine Tomato Pasta

pasta

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic (out of the jar is fine)

two cans NSA petite diced tomatoes

1/4 cup dry red wine (I use Sutter Home Merlot in the tiny bottles)

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1-2 tsp sugar

pinch black pepper

mozzarella cheese

Start a pot of water heating, then start the sauce. Saute the garlic in the oil until golden. Add everything else (except cheese and cheese, obviously). Add pasta to the water once it starts boiling. Simmer sauce until the noodles are done. Top with mozzarella cheese. If you don't have fresh mozzarella, you can use canned parmesan. Or both. Your call. 

Notes: This is high potassium, but other than that it's pretty kidney friendly. Low protein, low sodium, low cholesterol, etc.  

The measurements above are very approximate. Taste the sauce as you go and decide what it needs. Every once in a while I get a really sour batch of tomatoes, so it needs more sugar. I keep tasting spoons behind the stove for this purpose. (This is the Bussells Family Scotty Dog Spoon Holder. It's a recent tradition. My aunt, grandma, mom, and I all have one, scavenged from various antique stores. I think my great aunt. I'm the only current granddaughter, but there are fiancees and and serious girlfriends that will get included in this as is seen fit.) 

If you have children or husbands who don't eat any fruit or veggie they can identify, you can use an immersion blender to puree the sauce after cooking. 

Pansies. 

Now for dessert!

Addendum to previous post with stir-fry recipe

It has come to my attention that listing ingredients does not constitute posting a recipe. Here's the stir fry recipe mentioned on May 21:
(Technically, this was a grilled kebabs recipe, but I didn't have any lighter fluid or charcoal. So I'll include both preparation techniques.)
Originally from the June 2011 "All You" Magazine. 

Chicken Kebabs with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce
1) In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 c. lemon juice, 1/2 c. canola oil, 4 tsp cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp paprika, and 4 cloves garlic. Pour half into a separate bowl. Add chicken breast to (3 lbs or less, cut into 1 inch pieces) to one bowl. Add veggies (red bell peppers, 1/2 red onion, zucchini, and squash) and toss to coat. Chill, covered for 2 hours.
*2) In a bowl, whisk 1 c. plain greek yogurt, 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and Chill. (I didn't make this, but I bet it's good.)*
3) GRILL: Place veggies and chicken on metal skewers. Pat dry and discard marinade. Grill over medium high heat, about 4-6 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through.  OR
STIR FRY: Umm... stir fry them. Put them over med-high heat and move them around until they are cooked.
Serve over brown rice, with sauce for dipping if you are into that.
Reserve left-overs veggies and chicken for tomorrow's salad.
(1/6 of recipe, including sauce, contains 291 cal, 14g fat, 67 mg chol, 2 g fiber, 32g pro, 10g carb, 485mg sod.)

Grilled Chicken Salad
Place 8 cups mixed greens in a shallow bowl. Arrange grilled veggies and meat on top. Add a cup of canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed) and feta cheese to taste (go easy on it if you are watching your salt). Mix together dressing (2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper) and toss all together. The recipe also calls for kalamata olives.
(1/6 of recipe contains: 557 cal, 44g fat, 83mg chol, 4 g fiber, 33g pro, 20 mg carb, 1,133mg sod.)
**The total sodium count for this recipe is very high, so I didn't use the olives or the full half cup of feta, or put any salt in the dressing since there is salt in the mustard already and plenty of flavor in lemon juice and vinegar. I also picked no-salt-added chickpeas. I'm sure the recipe is very tasty as written, but I really didn't miss the extra salt at all. This will also bring down the fat, cholesterol, and calorie count slightly.)

Mundane news on the day the world didn't end.

Today was supposed to the Rapture Day (according to some.) We didn't have any excitement, but here are some other things going on with me.
Kids: (And by kids I mean my students.) I still have not heard whether I have a job next year or not. In April, my district laid off all its teachers that had been with the district 3 years or less. No secret. It was on the news. They plan to rehire "some" of those teachers back.  If they don't, then this is my last year of teaching. Pretty heavy thought with 9 school days left. I'll keep you posted on any news on that front.

Kitchen: I have a new recipe. I made this delicious chicken stir fry on Wednesday. It was supposed to be grilled but I had no charcoal. Then it became a chicken salad on Thursday. The chicken and veggies (including half a red onion, chopped red bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash) were marinated in lemon juice, coriander, cumin, salt, and paprika. I served it over brown rice. The salad is mixed greens topped with leftover veggies, canned chickpeas, feta cheese, and a dressing (balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and dijon mustard.) I thought it was all very tasty. Sexy Lawyer Man liked the stir fry, minus the peppers, but visibly winced when he tried the salad. He doesn't like mustard. Oh well. It sure was pretty, though.

Kitchen Garden:The potato in my garden is getting pretty huge. It was small and cute when it first sprouted, but now I'm really not sure how it is going to grow potatoes in the corner of the narrow pot it's in. It was a total experiment. I now know that I can grow potatoes, at least into healthy looking foliage. Next time, I'll cut the sprouted potato into bits before planting, and spread them out. No idea yet on what's going on below the soil. 

Also in my yard is a cute rabbit! She's my front yard rabbit (I think it's a lady rabbit) and she's been out there almost every day since she was handful-sized. Our duplex-buddies feed her and she let me get pretty close and watch her eat for a while this week. I'd try to get closer but she'd probably run away or maul me, and I don't want to be in the ER explaining that it was "no ordinary rabbit."

Oh, and I have a video of our pretty cool hailstorm.  You can't exactly see the hail, but you can sure hear it on the patio roof. I'm not sure why I included this. Mom may be the only weather nerd who feels the need to see a video of my hailstorm.  But here it is nonetheless.  

Kitchen Garden

From here on out, these are new posts that have not already been on Facebook. 

When I was a kid, we had this fantastic raised garden. It was about 4 feet by 10 feet or so and we grew all kinds of things. Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, chili peppers, bell peppers, lima beans. Lemon mint, spearmint, parsley, fennel, dill, oregano. Zinnias, cosmos, marigolds. It was magical.  I loved watering it, I love weeding it, and I loved going to check it every day to see what had grown and changed. I remember Gran used to tell me, “All your life, you’ll have your own secret garden, just like in the story.”

Well, true to that prediction, I have always attempted to be a gardener. However, being in apartments with tiny little sun-baked patios, I have not reached the splendor of the garden I always wanted. Last year I had a good little group of pots going, but a summer out of town with no rain and 100 degree heat pretty much finished it off.

Now, I don’t have much success keeping plants beautiful, so I mostly plant things that will be useful to me in my cooking. So here’s what I have going this year: parsley, cilantro, oregano, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, soybeans, mint, aloe vera (not for cooking so much as first aid), chives, green onions, and basil.  

And I have some failed experiments going, like planting a stalk of celery that didn’t take root, and chopped up strawberries that didn’t sprout, and rosemary seeds that never came up. I also have a potato I stuck in the edge of the onion pot that I don’t know what to do with. I’m hoping to keep this alive through the certain to be sweltering summer that is coming up. I’ll keep you posted on how that’s coming. In the mean time, I have harvested one good cucumber, two bell peppers, and a whole bunch of really truly delicious tomatoes. 

  

State of the Kidneys

Originally Posted October 16, 2010

So, to clarify and answer questions, here’s a long, wordy explanation of where I am in the Kidney Adventure.

After the big scariness of August, things have returned to “normal” for the most part. My creatinine came back down some from the big spike that we were seeing (creatinine = bad) but has not gone down to what it was before. So this leaves my function around 34%. But this is good news, considering that for a while it looked to be under 20%.   

It now looks like we have a sort of pattern. Six to nine months of nothing exciting, then about 2 weeks of some strange kidney-related illness and the function drops.  We’re pretty much giving up the search for a reason and we’re sticking to damage control now. No explanation for these little flare-ups.  We’re in uncharted territory now, since I don’t fit any of the usual reasons for kidney failure and there’s not a lot of research on people like me.

The plan from here is to change my diet to a “renal diet” to try to preserve function. It restricts sodium, cholesterol, protein, phosphorous (dairy, cokes), and potassium (potatoes, bananas…).  I don’t have to restrict fluids yet, but I am going to be a real pain to feed at family functions. However, I have not had much appetite lately anyway, especially for meats. (My body’s way to help me with the diet, apparently.) At least I have lost some weight! (Bright side, right?) I’ll be meeting with a nutritionist soon to make sure I can still get all I need to get from what I do eat.

As for other treatment, right now we’re looking at trying an ACE inhibitor again (different BP drug). Studies show that sometimes it can slow the damage that the rogue protein levels cause, which could lead to more years of stability. (Though almost all the studies are on diabetes-related kidney failure.) The catch is that it will make my creatinine go up a little, and I’m in the Danger Zone already. Then there’s a bit of a chance it could make things MUCH worse. So, I’m supposed to sleep on it and decide whether or not to give it a try. (HOW AM I QUALIFIED TO MAKE THIS DECISION?!?)

Anyway, when function gets 10-15% worse (and all the doctors believe it will), I will be getting a preemptive transplant, which means I have to line up a donor to avoid going on The List.  This probably won’t be for a few years (fingers crossed.) If this plan works, I won’t have to do dialysis at all. This is best-case scenario. I’m really trying not to think about alternate scenarios right now because I don’t like them.

Ok, so this has been really serious.  There’s not a really fun way to say all this stuff. (Maybe I could sing it?). It all sounds a little negative, so I should assure you I’m fine. It’s a little bit of a relief to quit searching for a cause with no success. Meanwhile, I’ve been camping and partying and traveling and teaching and life is good.  I do think this has given me a reason to be more optimistic about things. There are scarier things than finances, or dirty laundry, or 5^th graders, or any of the other things that had been stressing me out. And honestly, I feel like I have dodged the scarier things, too. I have a lot to be thankful for, and while I am disappointed that I’m not getting a handicap parking tag out of this, I am doing pretty damn good. 

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains,

I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains

There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line

And the less I seek my source for some definitive

The closer I am to fine

The closer I am to fine

-Indigo Girls

(Song I like. Not related to the situation exactly, but made sense to me.)

Greek Rice Pilaf, Delicious Polenta

Originally posted October 19, 2010

Two tasty recipes I tried today. They are from a vegetarian cookbook called Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It's from a restaurant in New York, run by "The Moosewood Collective," a commun-ish group of 18 people who run the restaurant, teach cooking classes, etc. (Sounds awesome.) I have used a recipe from this Collective (different cookbook) before, the Tomato/ Bulghur Wheat Soup.  In any case, now that I'm doing low protein, I think a vegetarian cookbook is going to come in handy as I can't stomach meat anyway.  Also, this is a large book full of  recipes you can make in 45 minutes or less, so that's good. Lots of vegan and non-dairy dishes, too. These recipes, I'd say, are probably for the more culinarily adventurous. They are not difficult, but include things like curry, miso, tempeh, tomatican, stifado, gorgonzola, orange compote, chakchouka... and other stuff you won't find at Cracker Barrel. This is why I have not dug very far through this book yet, but I'm working on amending my ways. (Gotta get creative now.)

So here are the recipes:

Greek Rice Pilaf

In a heavy skillet, saute ONE LARGE ONION in OLIVE OIL until onion softens (5 min.) Add 2 CLOVES GARLIC, 1 TBSP. DRIED MINT, 1/8 TSP PEPPER and saute 2 more minutes. Stir in 4 CUPS SPINACH, 3 TBSP LEMON JUICE, 4 CUPS COOKED RICE, and 1 CUP GREEN PEAS. Add in 2 TBSP FRESH DILL. Cover and cook 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

When spinach is limp and rice is hot, top with 1 CUP FETA CHEESE and serve immediately.  

Notes: I used brown rice and dried dill (about one tsp) and one can (16 oz) of green peas. I also went light on the feta, which is the main source of salt in this recipe, so the values will actually be a little lower than stated. The recipe says that you can serve hot or at room temp. I liked it hot. It states that as variations, you can add cooked chickpeas or chopped tomatoes with the spinach and peas. Sounds tasty. 

8 oz serving: 305 calories, 8.7 g protein, 9.4 g fat, 46.5 g carbs, 254 mg sodium, 17 mg cholesterol. 

Polenta

Bring 3 CUPS WATER and PINCH OF SALT to a boil. Add 1 CUP CORNMEAL in a thin, steady stream while whisking briskly. Stir in 2 TBSP BUTTER and (optional, but good) a PINCH OF CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES.  Simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring often. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 CUP GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE and serve. 

Notes: This has a good comfort food feel. If you like grits, you'll like this. Basically the same thing. Beware! As with grits, it's going to sputter a lot as it cooks, so you'll want a splatter screen or something to shield yourself. Dad has had a scar for about 50 years from a grits incident. You have been warned. Also, you are gonna want to soak the pot right away, since dried cornmeal sticks like crazy. 

8 oz serving: 263 calories, 10 g protein, 11.2 g fat, 30 g carbs, 647 mg sodium, 28 mg cholesterol.