jay: (Default)
jay ([personal profile] jay) wrote2005-10-24 05:29 pm

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...

[identity profile] quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
My calcium oxalate stone, according to my urologist, was likely caused by the fact that I was taking an over-the-counter calcium-based antigas medicine every day for the prior couple of months due to a serious gas problem I had. Fortunately, that was over after the stone passed as well (although that part wasn't related).

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm... that's a useful data point, even though I wasn't taking any meds for the six months prior, myself. But eating lots and lots of hard cheeses...

[identity profile] tenacious-snail.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for this info. Out of curiousity, do you know if dairy limits are cow-specific, or if they apply to all dairy (I do know of goat cheddars, for instance).

and like [livejournal.com profile] indyansel, [livejournal.com profile] cynan_poly had kidney stones that were connected to consumption of Tums or similar calcium-heavy antacids.

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
All dairy, it is about the calcium. Also includes milk used in cooking... I don't take dietary supplements, generally, not even multivitamins.

[identity profile] datagoddess.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
Dan hasn't had to restrict his diet, as long as he gets sufficient hydration. He drinks a lot of water, a few liters a day.

But then again, he had a traceable calcium addition to his diet, and you don't.

Have you ever had a stone before?

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-25 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
Never before, and I'm considered on the older side for one -- most strike males between ages 20-40.

TMI alert... in the Arctic, we had to relieve ourselves via a funnel into a 55 gal drum, exposed in the open, standing on a platform. I had trouble using this arrangement if anyone was within the line of sight... so would try to wait until the early morning hours, or while everyone was indoors during mealtimes. So would intentionally drink as little as I could, without getting blinding headaches...

I generally don't use restroom urinals, for the same reasons, unless it is otherwise deserted (wry grin).

[identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com 2005-10-29 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Brainstorming:

Would it be possible for you to use a temporary storage container in some private spot (yes, I know it would be hard to find) so that you could just go pour it out? It really sounds like your stones were the result of drastic under-hydration, and that hydrating normally (or a little in excess) now could mean a respite from those strict mineral-watching regimes.

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-29 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
There are two tents, for other purposes... women use a coffee-can there and then take it out and empty it in the funnel. But then it becomes a macho "real men don't use the coffee can, that's for women" social dynamic in camp.

[identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com 2005-10-29 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Hrr. What would happen if a man broke that gender line?

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Some teasing, perhaps, and a reduced willingness to bring that guy along on extended traverses away from base camp? I have been known to break that line in high winds, justifying it in terms of avoiding blowback onto clothing (wry grin).

[identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
Do you want to go on extended traverses away from base camp? Is it possibly a case of "if you felt confident in breaking that line, they wouldn't mess with you", or am I being blinded by the privileges of my gender?

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 09:13 am (UTC)(link)
Sure, I try to go whenever they are relevant to my field work. But confidence in breaking that line makes IMO little difference.

[identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Still, if you're balancing health vs. professional advancement...

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
(nods) can't advance or achieve if I'm laid up in a hospital...

[identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com 2005-10-30 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Perzactly.