July 21, 2015
It’s been a little while since our last update. Obviously, everything is going great with her kidneys. On my last Journal, I stated that I’d tried calling to get her lab results, but had to wait for the doctor to call me. I waited longer than I should have and finally decided to call back. They had them, the doctor just forgot, which he never does. Her labs came back and she is still in the perfect range in everything!
But we discovered a new little obstacle for our girl…
She is now lactose intolerant!
A few weeks ago, she started complaining about her tummy hurting and not feeling good and her stomach would look a bit swollen. Every now and then she’d throw up a little bit. I started watching what she was eating and drinking and how much at a time. Nothing was out of the ordinary. We hadn’t introduced anything new or unusual.
Of course when I brought this up with my hubs, he started worrying just like I was. We tested her, no protein leaking. No fevers or chills. And it wouldn’t last but for a few hours at most.
When we saw our Nephrologist doctor, I brought it up. He asked me if we’d changed her diet or introduced any new foods or drinks. “No.” I knew he’d ask. Then he surprised me by asking “does she drink a lot of milk, or have dairy in general?” Yes she does.
It never entered my mind that something her body had been so use to, something she’s had everyday for almost her entire life, would suddenly be hurting her now.
We immediately put it to the test. After about a week and a half of her complaining about her stomach and having the new problems, we finally had a day of normal. We only gave her one glass of milk with her lunch. All other dairy we kept away the entire day. That worked, she was perfectly fine with no complaints.
It was a huge relief to figure out the problem. Only sad part is, this girl loves her milk, cheese, ice-cream, yogurt, etc. And now we have to substitute. Instead of 2% milk, she now has Silk vanilla almondmilk, and also the dark chocolate almondmilk. She doesn’t like the vanilla so much, but loves the chocolate.
It feels as though everything edible she’s ever loved is slowly being taken away from her.
Before being diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, she loved pizza, mac-n-cheese, alfredo sauce, hot dogs, corndogs, pretzels, cheez-its, and all that high sodium food. She can no longer have those foods (or if she does, it’s a tiny amount and the only sodium for her whole day). And now the dairy situation limits her amount per day. Dairy substitutions are not the same.
Going out to eat has her at limitations, always. We’ve done this long enough now that me and hubs can figure her food out quite easily. We’ve looked at enough labels, it comes to us like second nature, we know how much sodium is out there.
For example…
McDonald’s… 4-piece chicken nugget, no-salt french fries, go-gurt, and water. –If she eats the whole meal, she’s eaten a third of her sodium intake and the yogurt counts as half of her dairy.
Thankfully, this Mama can still make low sodium cakes with low sodium frostings… And cookies!
Plus… Nae just had her first school physical. Can’t believe that!
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