My Flakey Potassium and Phosphorus Levels

I am very interested in hearing how my fellow transplant recipient friends have dealt with this issue!

A little back story first. So if you remember during my kidney failure/dialysis days, phosphorus and potassium were two of the mineral things I could not eat. High phosphorus levels can cause a buildup in your joints, appendages and other body parts (men, your most sacred part) and cause them to basically rot and fall off! No joke! My aunt, the dialysis nurse, has had two men actually lose their most treasured part! Of course, phosphorus can be just as damaging to women. But people really seem to take the message more seriously when I share the stories of men. So, I was very diligent and faithful to my renal diet! I ate as little phosphorus as possible, which was difficult because phosphorus is in EVERYTHING!!! So, I also took 12-15 phosphorus binders daily to help reduce my phosphorus levels. I was pretty much an all star when it came to my dialysis labs! Then there is potassium. Too high or too low levels of potassium can cause detrimental effects. One of which is a heart attack. I always kept my potassium in check by avoiding high potassium foods such as bananas, orange juice and potato products. Don't get me wrong, the renal diet was tough, but not following it would have had greater consequences.

And just for anyone who reads this and starts worrying about their potassium or phosphorus levels, if you have healthy functioning kidneys, do not fret. Your beautiful kidneys are regulating these levels for you. So men readers don't worry!

Now that I am post transplant, I can eat anything! I knew initially, my potassium and phosphorus levels would be low because I went into transplant with low-normal numbers and once the new kidney kicked in, it would lower both levels. I felt like with my new freedom and relaxed diet, I would increase these numbers to normal ranges naturally with my new diet. In 5 weeks I have yet to get my levels up to a normal range. They are abnormally low. So, Dr. Step in Memphis has now prescribed me potassium and phosphorus supplements. I just think this is funny and amazing how good my new kidney is working. I struggled for nearly three years to keep these two minerals in a low-normal range. And now my body works so efficiently, I have to take supplements to bring them up from too low to a normal range.

Every day I am amazed by the power of this new kidney. Which all healthy functioning kidneys do this and we never think about it. But now that I have had a history with kidney failure and now a future with a functioning kidney, it is mind boggling to sit back and marvel at its work and wonder. If I didn't believe in God and all of His power and glory, I would think this new kidney was magical!!!!! But then again, God is magical! I am aware that I received a super awesome, healthy kidney from a perfect specimen of a human being....so that probably has something to do with how wonderful my new kidney is!

So in a few days of being on two more pills, my levels will be normal again! No worries here!