(no subject)

I'm staying home today, supposedly to recover from jet lag and to reconnect with patgreene and the kids. But the kids are in school, Pat's gone this morning (doctor) and part of this afternoon (church stuff), and I have no idea what to do today. Sitting around the house... sort of wish I were elsewhere... forced inactivity isn't my idea of R&R. Maybe these transitions would work better if I set up a busy schedule immediately upon return, rather than downtime. Maybe I should go in to work, anyway...

Care and feeding of Jay...

In today's mail was a follow-up from the Munich hospital, identifying my stone as comprised of weddellite (calcium and oxalates), and providing dietary recommendations.

Basic recommendations are to moderate meat and fish consumption (2 servings per day), and the usual rejoinder to eat mixed foods with lots of vitamins and fiber. But also to sharply curtail cheeses and dairy products (no more than 2 oz of cheese per day). I should try to minimize or avoid high-oxalate foods (rhubarb, spinach, mango, strawberries) as well.

As far as beverages go, water is fine... mineral water if the calcium is not too high... fruit juices and herbal teas are OK. I should try to moderate or reduce consumption of black tea, coffee, alcohol and sugared softdrinks, again pretty standard recommendations. (I guess this supplants the "two liters of weissbier per day" prescription, rats ;). But I should specifically limit myself to no more than 1 cup of milk per day, and not if I also have cheese that day. And I need to avoid dehydration, generally, as it aids in stone formation.

So, one mocha and I've exhausted the day's calcium and coffee ration... strawberries will have to be an occasion treat, in small quantities... diet sodas reconfirmed over ordinary ones... and a regular diet of cheese pizza, fondue and macaroni and cheese is a bad idea. Unfortunately, these are half of the things that I will eat that my vegetarian friends also will eat... and it looks like high-protein diets won't be a future option for weight loss.

In retrospect, the Arctic was a bad environment for me, this year... perpetually dehydrated, poor food choices available, dried mango strips as snacks, lots of Scotch after hours. Probably set up the stone for Munich, five weeks later...