One year. Its been one year now since I've eaten chicken, or beef, or bacon, or any meat. And this isn't another lefty speaking against cruelty to animals (although the idea of eating dead flesh seems especially barbaric to me now) I was gladly chomping down MOSTLY meat every day until one day I felt sick. I thought I had food poisoning since the day before I ate at an authentic dim-sum joint in downtown LA. I was in the Bay Area and I was feeling like I was going to puke. I and puked...and I puke I did...and I puked some more. And I had this crazy headache. It was September 5th. So with these symptoms, and like any other guy, I tried to shake it off and go about my day....Not a good idea. It wasn't until 8 or 9pm that I decided I would go to a local ER and get checked out. I told them I was still very nauseous, so they could catch me in the bathroom when it was my time to be called. They finally brought me in about 30 minutes later and they guy took my blood pressure. Right after he took it he called a doctor and said something about a "code". Before long I was in another room and they had put an IV in me. They were worried about me having a stroke. My blood pressure was 230 over 140, a crazy number. I was told later that this was the highest number anyone in the ER had seen in a patient. They had given me Nitro to bring my BP down. I was on the phone with my wife, telling her what was going on when they took the phone out of my hand. I felt like I couldn't breath, and for a moment I thought "this is it....this is how I am going to die". Turns out my BP was going down too fast and that was a problem... I blacked out. I woke up sometime early the next morning. I was moved from the ER to ICU where I stayed for 3 days. I had more IV's in me and I had oxygen tubes in my nose, and I had the MOTHER of all headaches. This wasn't good. The Nurse had told me my boss was there to see me, and something about my wife being on the way down. The next day they did a bunch of test and scans. Turned out my kidneys were failing. I had about 15 percent use of my kidneys. The Nephrologist said I would need a kidney transplant, and she had the bedside manner of Dr, Kavorkian. Listening to her, It seemed it was just a matter of time before I was going to die. She was terrible. Not hopeful at all. It was that moment that my headache went away, and I havent had a headache ever since. So what does this have to do with my eating habits? As I began to prep for the long process of getting a kidney transplant, (we were targeting April of 08'), I did a evaluation of my diet and I did lots of reading on kidney disease. It was clear to me that eliminating meat protein would give my kidneys a long overdue break. So I gave up meat. Since my life depended it on it, it wasn't very hard to stay with this plan. Sure, I wanted to eat a burger or a steak at first, and every now and then I still get a craving... but it passes. So the combination of diet, meds to lower my blood pressure, and faith (yes, faith), brought some amazing results. Within 3 months, my kidneys were at about 20 percent use. (Btw, 20 percent is the threshold for needing a kidney transplant. You cant go on the list for one unless you are at 20 percent or less. In 6 months I was at 30 percent. I probably have about 35 percent use of my kidneys today, well about the 20 percent transplant threshold (which is awesome!). I will need a transplant one day, but it could be 5, 10, maybe even 30 years from now. The move towards becoming a vegetarian (I do have cheese, but I do try to limit my dairy) has brought some other great benefits. I lost about 20 lbs. I sleep through the night, and I feel really great...better than I felt well before my kidneys started failing. I've also have become quite the cook these days!
The point of my post is not so much to highlight the benefits of "skipping the cow", but I wanted to point out just how critical it is that everyone take ownership of their own medical circumstances, and not let your Doctors decide your fate. One of the people I am following is doing a blog on the Middle Ages. As much as we have progressed since then, so much of our medical decisions are still "best guesses". We cant forget that.
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2 comments:
This is just the strangest coincidence. I had an unexpected proceedure while I was on vacation in San Diego this past summer. The same thing happened - I got a stomach ache, thought I had food poisoning, went back to the hotel room where I started throwing up. I didn't go into a local ER until about 10 that night, mostly because by that point I was screaming in pain from cramps in my stomach!
I was rushed into surgery that night - it turns out I had a rare birth defect called Meckles Divirticulum, plus a rotated intestinal tract. I was in the hospital for a full month. During that entire time, I was fed intravenously.
I vowed that when I got through this, I would change my diet, even though diet really had nothing to do with getting sick. I felt that if I am careful about my diet, I can have at least some sense of control over my health. So far I have been 100% vegetarian since June and feel great. I also feel that a vegetarian diet provides me with a more peaceful way of existing within Nature and improves my karma. We are evolved beings, after all. We have choices.
Anyway, I know being sick like that takes a huge toll emotionally as well as physically. I hope you are finding all the peace and sense of comfort you must need after this experience!
J
I have been on meditation retreats which feature rather strict vegetarian regimes, on which I thrive and improve, but after a week or so, some of our group always start craving, needing, meat. Invariably they turn out to be the Blood Type O's; Type A's like me are supposed to be more acclimated to vegetarianism. Don't know your Blood Type, but just a thought. (See the diet book, "Eat Right for your Blood Type.")
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