A New "Diet"

Chris has battled kidney stones for a while. They hit unexpectedly and always at the worst moment. Days before Kairi was born. At 2am of the first night we were able to get a little bit of sleep for the first time in several nights because of sick kids. The morning we're supposed to be getting on a plane and heading to Texas for Chris' first vacation in 2 years. Always at horrible times.

A few months ago he saw a urologist who offered us some hope. He ran some tests and said that he would be able to determine the type of kidney stone Chris was having and that there was a possibility of being able to treat him for the kidney stones and make them at least slow down if not completely stop. Friday morning Chris had the follow up appointment. I was anxious to hear what the verdict was -- trying to be hopeful that it would be easy to deal with and not something to worry about (as depending on the type of kidney stone, it could be an indication of a kidney disease).

The final word is that his kidney stones are made up of calcium-oxalate, the most common kind of kidney stone, and the least concerning. Which is good, for the most part... nothing serious is related to these stones so it's not a real indication of anything really being wrong. What it also means, though, is that there's not a truly "easy" treatment. We're having to adjust his diet. I was definitely not opposed to doing so, but seeing the list of good vs bad foods for his diet has left me floundering. He's supposed to avoid excessive animal proteins, foods high in carbs esp whole wheat foods (there goes bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice), and anything that's considered to be high in oxalates. The oxalate list contains things such as black pepper, beans (of any sort including green beans), berries, parsley, tomatoes and all tomato products (yikes!), and on and on the list grows. Let me just say, this will take some getting used to. I feel a little selfish but am just a tiny bit glad that I only have to make this work for the next 2 1/2 weeks, then I get to go back to cooking normally. I just have to figure this out for when he gets back home.....