Pregnancy post #6, My Kidney Disease, and What it Can Do

             So my Friday post is a little late, but for good reason. Got a bit of a story for you. Thursday I was at work, and started getting dizzy and having some spots in front of my eyes. These are things that they say, go to the hospital for. I did, thinking I was overreacting, I guess I wasn't. So I've mentioned in the past, along with my gestational diabetes, I have a kidney disease. It's called Gitelman syndrome. It's rare, if I remember correctly, both your parents have to have a gene, they both have to give you the same gene, and then it needs to be set off. What it does is makes my kidneys filter out some nutrients faster than  they're supposed to, specifically potassium and magnesium. I can also function at a lower level of both nutrients than the average person, my body is just used to it. The problem is the effects of lower levels don't really impact me until my levels are getting into the danger zone. I do have a mild case...typically. This is something you usually have to take meds for. That being said pre pregnancy, I was eating a very potassium and magnesium rich diet, and I wasn't taking anything. My kid started zapping these nutrients, as I expected. So I was on meds. Then I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The problem is, many of these potassium rich foods, are packed with natural sugar.

              Back to Thursday, I went to the hospital. Thinking I overreacted, I was surprised to discover, not so much. Both nutrients were low. That being said, with the meds, I was used to the magnesium being low. They were upped, regularly. The potassium had been regulated early, so to hear how low it was, I was surprised. They admitted me, and hooked me up to an IV.  I didn't think this would be an issue but it was. I'm not terribly proud of this,but I started to panic. So I thought I was over this, apparently not.

              When I was five, my mom passed away from cancer. I remember my mom, but one thing I wish I didn't was all the machines, tubes and wires connected to her. When I was 13, I fought a nurse who put an IV in me. I thought I'd grown up and gotten over this, no, I didn't. I tried so hard to keep it together. Unfortunately, my veins weren't cooperating. They took four tries before they got it in. I kept it together for the first two tries. After that I started hyperventilating, and sweating. Try three was when I actually started crying about it, and felt like an idiot. 

               Getting back to the treatment. My kidney specialist talked to my diabetes specialist, looks like I'm going back to my old diet, and we're going to wait and see on my diabetes. Like I said, my kidney disease is very uncommon. So the experience with pregnancy isn't there, I think because it is actually more common in males as well.

               So today is about resting (I was laying on a stretcher for 12 hours before I got moved to a bed, I was stable, and there were emergencies happening), and getting my diet/ meds back on track.