Dehydrated

The cancer isn't back!

The CF nurse responded to my rambling email when blood work was back and told me that my hemoglobin levels were fine, I was just quite dehydrated and my kidneys were not happy. Also, my magnesium levels were low. I feel like I spend half of my life dehydrated and the other half trying to make up for it and constantly peeing.

People with CF generally have a hard time staying hydrated. Our bodies excrete more salt with sweat so there isn't as much salt to build up in the blood stream - which is what triggers the thirst sensation in the average person - to let us know that we're thirsty. On top of that, people with CF actually need more fluid than the average person because it thins the mucus in the lungs which makes it easier to breath (not my problem anymore but still important!). Of course there are all the usual important reasons to stay well hydrated - happy kidneys, not fainting, better digestions, etc...

I had clearly gotten to a point where I had become quite dehydrated but hadn't realized. I'm sure I didn't drink enough when we were hiking - when it's a cool day I always forget to drink as much.

In the end, I spent the week drinking milk with my meals and ginger water (just some pureed ginger root in the water to make it more flavourful) all the other times and I'm feeling much better with no more lightheaded spells. As for the low magnesium, I'm popping some extra magnesium pills to get my levels back up.

Cancer scare resolved.

In other news, I booked our flights for my three year post-transplant assessment in Toronto at the end of the month. Woohoo!