Okay, here I am, Labor Day after just recently being
discharged from the University Of Colorado Medical Center. I am 43,
5'10", and 193 lbs. I suffer from Hypertension and End Stage Renal
Disease (ESRD). I was in the hospital because a couple of days ago, I had
a severe case of stomach flu. Two weeks ago, I had gone to a Classic Car
Show with a friend from work. It was Saturday and there were hundreds of
Mopar classics waiting. I decided to have lunch at the event where there
were many tents with vendors serving different types of meals and of course BBQ
caught my eyes. Well, unfortunately later on that evening, my stomach
cramping and doing some strange things that I wasn't quite prepared for.
I commenced vomiting and having diarrhea shortly after. My stomach
felt like someone was taking a wrench to it and I could barely stand the pain.
Eventually the pain subsided, but man; I wish it had ended sooner.
The following week I contemplated the experience quite a bit and thought
seriously about changing my diet. This reflection had me thinking what a
Vegan diet would do for me. I was on High Blood Pressure drugs which I
despised, and made me feel terrible all the time. I was on a total of 5
different medicines - Nifedipine, Lisinopril, Clonidine, Metoprolol and Minoxidil. Even knowing what the side effects were of
all these drugs, I never changed my diet hoping that one day, a magical cure
will appear. Ignorance is bliss…
My wife and daughter were vacationing in Las Vegas, NV
and I was scheduled to pick them up on Saturday Aug. 25, 2012. I was excited to see them after 3 weeks in
Vegas. I wanted to go out to eat after
picking them up at the Airport, but they had already eaten. My wife still wanted me to get something to
eat so I took a trip to Qdoba’s for their 3 Cheese
Nachos. That evening, I had a
conversation with the wife about becoming a Vegan and she was quite surprised
and excited that I had finally decided to take this step. She said that Monday, she would clean out the
Fridge and cabinets. Sunday afternoon,
my wife had a taste for some Fried Chicken and King Soopers was the place to go
to get the best Fried Chicken for an
inexpensive price. I decided to make
this my last non-vegan meal. Later on
that night, my stomach started feeling funny again with those same cramps I had
before. Vomiting followed soon after
with severe stomach pains. I couldn’t
believe this was happening again and did my best to suppress the pain as much
as possible so I wouldn’t worry my wife.
I figure I had gotten some food poisoning at first until I surmised that
the wife and daughter weren’t sick. The
pain continued throughout the night with vomiting from me attempting to put new
food in my stomach. One minute I would
feel great and the next, I had to vomit.
My wife gave me baking soda and water to try and help with the upset stomach
and I just threw that right up. I felt
like I had a not in the center of my stomach and no food or liquid would go
past that point. I felt almost like I
had constipation, so I told that wife about it and she fixed me some Smooth
Move which I quickly vomited that up also.
I wasn’t able to keep down anything including water. I knew I had to get some fluids inside my
body, so I kept trying to drink water with no success. The wife was worried and thought that I
needed to go see a doctor, but I resisted hoping that all this was a stomach flu. Well, the next morning, I was feeling better
but not perfect. The wife recommended
that I call in sick and stay home and recover, so I did. That hole day, I layed around in the bed
feeling good and bad all day. One
minute, my stomach felt fine and the next it feels like someone was taking a
wrench to it. The wife didn’t like that
fact that I was sleeping all day, but that was the only way I could stand the
pain was sleeping. She was concerned all
this sleep was related to my kidney issues, but I insisted that my stomach is
my only problem and that I just needed a little time and rest. That evening my wife sent me a text message
stating that if I wasn’t better by the morning that I need to go to the
doctor. I replied that I would.
The next morning, I woke feel pretty good, so
I decided to go to work. I got to work
feel fine and proceeded to do my job as I always have. I took a trip to Whole Foods to get me some breakfast
which consisted of some Bananas, Oranges and Trail Nuts. I ate some of the Trail Nuts and they stayed
down. I was actually feeling like things
were back to normal. Within an hour, my
stomach started cramping again and the feeling of Nausea returned and I did my
best to maintain and not vomit. The pain
increased and I started to feel like something internally was wrong. I text the wife and asked her to come get me
and take me to the ER. Enough was enough
and I had to find out what was causing all this pain. She took me to the ER and I checked in and
discovered that my blood pressure was greater than 187/120. Cause for alarm for sure but not abnormal for
me. My blood pressure is almost always
high hence the medications. The ER folks
ran several tests to try and discover what was happening and discovered that my
Creatinine levels were high at 10 which mean my kidneys aren’t functioning well
at all. The doctors immediately
recommended I be admitted so that could assess my condition and monitor my
kidneys. I was seriously dehydrated and
needed fluids quickly which they immediately hooked me up to an IV. They kept me overnight and fed me an IV to
rehydrate my body and see if that would benefit my kidneys. They were also very concerned about my blood
pressure and monitored that all night also while giving me my regimen of drugs. My blood pressure finally got down to 155/95
which was good but not great. I had
kidney doctors come visit me to question what happened to get me here. They were able to conclude that it wasn’t
necessary to go back on dialysis but that I was very borderline and needed to
go back on dialysis soon or get a kidney transplant.
See, I was on dialysis back in 2009 after
having a Heart Attack and Stroke in July 2008 from Hypertension. I came off of dialysis when my chances of
recovery were impossible. Doctors were
in disbelief when I came off the first time and don’t believe I will stay off
of dialysis because of my condition. I
was informed by my Lord that he would restore my body and I am standing on that
promise. I have now just realized how
important it is for me to do something in order for him to do what he does
best. I have to improve my eating
habits. So, it is my vow to improve my
diet to eliminate the things that are damaging my body. I got out of the hospital on Thursday 30,
2012 and have been getting better each and every day. I am eating all Vegan and already I have
noticed changes in my blood pressure readings for the better. My lowest reading was 121/73 which has never
been that low as far back as I can remember.
I am going to continue to monitor it and see how much better it gets and
eventually get off of these meds. I
remember when I first was diagnosed with Hypertension; the doctor informed me
that I would be on this medicine for the rest of my life. I didn’t like that answer then and I don’t
like it now, but I never tried to do anything to get off of this medicine. I am out to prove more to myself than anyone
else that I can become Hypertension free.
I have watched too many documentaries and read too many documents that
prove that this can be done.
My only barrier
has been food. I want to live to see my
old age and grandchildren, so I am taking the steps necessary to improve my situation. I believe if we all just get eating right a
chance, we can see a difference in our lives.
As my life improves, I am going to document it so that I can remember
and others can be motivated to do the same.
