Dialyis Diet/Food and Fluid Restrictions (Dialysis)
During my first trip to outpatient dialysis, I was put on a dialysis diet and told I could only have a liter of fluids a day which included soups, applesauce, fruit, and any watery foods. I could only have one serving of dairy a day, which equated to 4 oz; I was to consume no more than 200mg of potassium a day; and I was to limit my phosphorus intake. During my hospital stay, I was only told to limit my beverages but was never given an exact amount of allowable fluids. I also was given a renal diet menu and did not have to think about what foods were safe and which weren’t. The dietician only told me to avoid things like peanut butter, tomatoes, and potatoes. When I got home, I was on my own. This was all very overwhelming to me as the potassium content was not listed on many items. It also seemed like most healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, contained high levels of potassium. I was given a few tips on foods to avoid and a few to include at my local dialysis center. I had to do a lot of research to figure out what exactly I could safely eat. This was very hard. I remembering eating a lot of vanilla wafers to quell my hunger as I tried to figure things out. I was burned out, stressed, tired, weak, and did not want to add figuring out a diet plan to my plate.
The dialysis diet was very restrictive. However, I can have a pretty strong will power. What was really hard for me was the fluid intake restriction. I was limited to 1 liter of fluids as I mentioned. I was constantly thirsty. I don’t know why but it was all I could think about. I had an incessant thirst. I always ended up drinking more than I should have. I tried so hard not to, but it felt like I was always extremely dehydrated. I would try to just take a few sips of a drink but it would never be enough to quench my thirst. It didn’t help matters that the sleeping pills I took caused me to eat in the night, and since I was awake, you guessed it, I was thirsty! I eventually needed to do dialysis an extra day, on Saturday mornings. I felt ashamed every time I weighed in, like I had done something horrible. The thirst was uncontrollable. While I was still in the hospital with kidney failure, my fluids weren’t as restricted, as I was still able to void a little. During outpatient dialysis, I was peeing just a little in the beginning, and soon enough, not at all. This meant strict limitations on fluids.
When I first started outpatient dialysis, I went to another town. The patients there were not very compliant with their diets. People would bring two-liter bottles of sodas that they would drink during dialysis along with tons of snacks. When I was in the hospital receiving dialysis, the only food they offered was breakfast. If it happened to be lunch or dinner, you simply had to eat your meal when you eventually returned to your room. After a short while, I was told a new center was opening up in the town I lived. The doctor I was seeing was one of the doctors opening this center. They could only take patients whose primary insurance wasn’t Medicare. So, I was the first patient in that center. It might have been one whole week that I spent as the one and only dialysis patient they had. Eventually one more man would join me. We spent the rest of the month being the only two patients. Then, people with Medicare would be allowed to join the center. I really enjoyed the workers at this facility. They were very kind, hard-working, competent people. I felt safe with them.
(Every now and then the bandage would get a little wet from washing and I'd have to replace it)
(Doing dialysis with my catheter)
(Dialysis and part of the machine)
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