Immune Support

One of my favorite things about the Cronometer nutrition tracking app is the Immune Support chart. It helps me throughout the day to choose foods that my body needs to ward off illness. It educates me on exactly what my body needs right now to keep it performing at its best. Here are the ten nutrients listed in the Immune Support category: 

1. Folate 
2. B12 (Cobalamin)
3. Vitamin A
4. Copper
5. Zinc
6. Magnesium
7. Vitamin D
8. Vitamin C
9. Omega-3
10. Omega-6

And to the right is a snapshot of how I'm doing so far this year (this view includes supplements -- without supplements, I am almost always deficient in Vitamin D).

I take small doses of B12 (liquid form 1-2 drops daily), Folate (1/4th of a Folic Acid tablet), and a little extra Zinc most days to keep my Zinc:Copper ratio in balance (because they utilize the same pathway, Cronometer helps me keep these two important nutrients in balance).  

It is important for everyone to take care of their immune system, but especially so for people living with cancer. Our bodies naturally fight disease, including cancer cells. My body has cancer cells in the lymph system, as I have written about previously; the lymph system is part of our body's immune response team, which is an amazing army of specialized cells that search every nook and cranny for things that do not belong, things that are not helpful or that cause harm. Those specialized cells flag viruses and cancer cells, telling the nervous system what and where it is, which type of defense is needed, etc.

Recently, my husband started coughing and developed a fever, chills, night sweats, and congestion. I did what I could to protect myself, keeping a distance, wearing a mask, but I did not think it would be enough to prevent me from also getting sick. After all, they removed 44 lymph nodes last year and my lymph system is invaded with cancer cells (Non Hodgkins SLL). It is compromised to say the least. This is why I have been so diligent about tracking my nutrition. It is my first line of defense!

To my utter surprise, I did not get sick! My husband was unfortunately sick for 10 days, but I did not develop even a sniffle! I can only attribute this to my immune system having what it needed to win the battle this time. 

I will keep this blog short by inviting readers who want more details to download Cronometer and start using it to educate yourself about what each nutrient is, what it does, and best food sources for you to get everything you need in your daily diet. Maybe a multi-vitamin and mineral formula is adequate for you, but for me, I don't want to waste money or calories on excess nutrients that my kidney has to flush. I want to give my body what it needs to be efficient. Kidneys already have an enormous 24/7 workload!

Thank you for being here. Please take a moment to leave a comment. I hope this post is helpful, and I wish you all the best in your health journey! 

❤

Purposefully Delayed

QUALITY OF LIFE

We use that phrase without giving much thought to what we mean when we say it. What does it mean for you? 

One of the things that I have a low tolerance for is a lifestyle that looks like a revolving door of doctor visits and lab tests. Quarterly is too often for me. Even six month intervals is too frequent for me. Is it just me, or do doctors in general tend to want to see you again in three months? My primary physician has given me a list of tests to get before the next visit. I don't think it is necessary or worthwhile to get these test every 3 months. I have Stage 2 Lymphoma, yes, but there is nothing they can do about it. What is the point of monitoring my body every 3 months? I think the point is income for the doctor. I think the medical group pressures their physicians to get the most billable hours they can, and they see in me a way to get the insurance to pay for it. But what about me? Do they consider at all what the frequency of tests and doctors does to me, emotionally and psychologically? Do they consider the stress it causes for me to have these frequent reminders that stir up anxiety all over again? 

I have pushed back and they do not hear me. So here is my plan to get the healthcare routine of my choosing.

First, I selected an HMO for 2026. 

This means the primary physician must request prior authorizations for EVERYTHING they think is necessary. And then it goes through a review process by the HMO and I am hoping they will NOT approve everything. 

Second, delay!

This means I am not going to call the primary physician's office to remind them that it is on them to get prior authorization for the scheduled appointment and lab tests ordered. They also have to get prior approval for me to see any specialists. So, about a week before the March appointment, I will call and ask them if these things are authorized. I am counting on them to fail. 

In my December visit, I reminded the doctor that I have new insurance next year that requires prior approval and she said something like, "I'm referring you, that's all you need." I did not argue. I did not ask the front desk anything either as they set the next appointment and told me to get the tests a week before the next visit. 

They are not going to do anything, I would win a bet on that, unless I call in January and remind them that I have an HMO that requires them to get everything authorized in advance. 

The March appointments will have to be rescheduled. Aww. So sad. (LOL)

Third, delay again!

A couple of weeks before the rescheduled appointments, call and tell them I am going out of town and need to reschedule. 

Finally, make them listen. 

This means not doing a colonoscopy and CT scan in 2026. I simply will not do it unless I choose to. The doctors are not listening to me. I will make them listen. 

I disagree with the recommendations. For me, it is too invasive to get all of these tests so often. It's not helping me at all. It is only helping them!

As I said, there is nothing they can do about the type of lymphoma I have. As long as I have no symptoms, treatment is not recommended. And here's the more important piece: if and when they recommend chemotherapy/radiation, my decision has already been made. No. Thanks, but NO! That is my final decision. Anyone who pressures me to reconsider will be avoided as someone who does not understand me and/or is being selfish at a time when I need people to understand and support my choice.

I am done with this vicious cycle. I have been down this road before and I hated it. I was happiest when I quit going to doctors and simply lived my life and relied on diet, exercise, fun, and stress management to feel my best. 

❤

Vitamin K

If you are anything like me, you have not heard much about Vitamin K. I have lived nearly seven decades. I have been active on the internet for two decades. And yet, this potent little nutrient seems to be spoken of very little. Why am I talking about it now? In a word, anemia. 

Long story short, if you're looking for a quick and easy source of Vitamin K, eat a few sticks of celery. It's that simple. 

Vitamin K, I learned through the use of Cronometer* nutrition tracking app, is essential to blood health: 

"FUNCTION: Vitamin K is needed for blood clotting and building bones. Vitamin K can be made by the bacteria in your intestines and contributes to some of your daily needs. Cronometer's data sources report phylloquinone aka vitamin K1, when entering labels we combine K1, K2, K3 and enter as Vitamin K. 

"SOURCES: Kale, spinach and other leafy greens, sweet potatoes, avocadoes."

As shown on my screenshot, celery contributed the most K of anything else I've eaten so far today. So now, whenever I see that K is low in my daily view of essentials, I eat a few sticks of celery. Easy peasy. 

BLOOD HEALTH

Essentials specific to managing and maintaining blood health are: Folate, B12 (Cobalamin), Iron, Calcium and Vitamin K. 

The screenshot on the right shows how much of these I have consumed so far today, including supplements (I usually need 1/4th of a Folic Acid tablet, 1 drop of B12 in liquid form, and sometimes a calcium tablet). 

Cronometer offered Blood Health as a highlighted nutrition score and I turned that on. This has proven a very interesting rabbit hole! 

I LOVE LEARNING

I feel like I am in Kindergarten! Learning new things. Brain buzzing with wonder. (Or is that the cannabis-infused dark chocolate?) Whatever it is, I like it. 😁

You know that feeling you get when new knowledge empowers you to make smarter choices? You feel a little bit bigger. A little stronger. Armed and ready for a battle you did not see coming. Watch me now!

My goal is to reverse the progression of lymphoma. It has creeped into my body due to years of uninformed neglect. Nutrient tracking is a game changer! ❤

_____

*Cronometer has a free basic plan with ads. If they offer you a free trial of Gold, I recommend taking it so you can try the app ad-free and see if you find it useful. Personally, I found it so essential to achieving my health goals that it was worth it to pay for the ad-free subscription ($60/yr). The ads became too intrusive for me. (I have a low tolerance for pop-ups.) 

My Weight Journey

 

2009

In 2009 when I met the love of my life (truly, the first and only time I have ever experienced falling in love), it so happens that I weighed about 120 pounds (54 kg). 

I had never gotten into fad diets or any behaviors that would hint at an eating disorder. I was simply busy, active, and did not eat big meals or indulge in excessive amounts of carbs. I rarely drank soda. Honestly, I have never had much of a taste for colas or any other fizzy sugar beverages. Fried foods also had little appeal to me. 

I was not a health food fanatic. I am now, but I do my utmost to not be preachy or constantly annoying about it, as I journey deeper into understanding the potency of good nutrition in my quest to slow the progress of lymphoma (Non-Hodgkin SLL/CLL). 

In just four short years of cooking for a man who loved pasta, I gained 56 pounds. It was this photograph at a family reunion that woke me. (That's me with short pink hair weighing 176.) 

2013

Although I was still comfortable in size 14 (US Women size), it smacked me right upside the head, looking at this photo, that it was happening. I was well on my way to obesity. I would soon need to buy size 16, then 18. When and how would the weight gain stop? 

Did I panic and join a weight loss club? Did I buy a book or listen to a podcast? Did I seek any kind of quick fix? NO. I knew already what I needed to know about weight gain and loss. It is a very simple formula.

EAT LESS. 
MOVE MORE.

I had indulged for four years in eating more than my body needed each day. I didn't care if I plumped up a little bit, I was enjoying myself. But now my bones and joints were bearing the burden of an extra 50 pounds. On top of the uncomfortable heaviness and added difficulty of movement, my kidneys were struggling, I was on a strict low calcium diet recommended by my nephrologist (kidney specialist), and unfortunately that had caused osteoporosis to begin weakening joints and bones. 

I knew that if I continued to add weight, I was going to be in chronic pain in the near future. I had to reverse the trend. Gradually. Thus I began in 2014 to eat a little less and move a little more. 

2014

If cookies and candy were in the home, I found it impossible to resist, so not having tempting sweets in the cupboards was one of the new habits I established. 

DELAY GRATIFICATION.

When at the store, facing endless arrays of junk food displays at checkout stands, I practiced delayed gratification. "Not today." I resisted the temptation to buy candy. It was very hard, but saying no to the impulse buy became easier the more I did it. 

At home, when my sweet tooth pestered me with relentless craving, more often, I chose fresh fruit. It was the only thing available at home. I thought about walking to the store and buying chocolate, but rarely caved to that. Eat less. Move more. Nothing drastic. Just gradually reverse the trend, that's all I was aiming for. 

2015

Within two years, clothes that had been snug were loose. I did not have a fitness tracker. Wasn't counting steps. My lifestyle was mostly sedentary, still, with occasional walks in the forest or along the coast. The above photo was taken by my husband (we married in 2014) at Mendocino Beach. It looks like my weight is normal, but that's due to the baggy sweater. I had only lost about 10 pounds. The extra 40 pounds I still carried all over, pretty evenly distributed, nonetheless an unnecessary burden on my joints. 

2016

My weight journey continued, slightly decreasing over time. That's all I cared about...a gradual reversal of the gaining trend. 

2017

I was not happy about the way I looked in photos such as these. But being skinny was never the goal. Being healthy was my goal. I could have been doing a lot more toward that, but have found that it works best to establish one new healthy habit at a time. Don't try to drastically overhaul your lifestyle all at once. Commit to baby steps that reverse the weight gain trend. Reduce the frequency of giving in to impulse eating. Gradually target healthier habits. It worked for me. 

2018

Five years later, I will still heavier than I wanted to be. However, I had at least reversed the trend. I was not gaining weight. It was slowly coming off. If I wanted to lose faster, it would take more effort. At this point, I was not interested in doing much more, but I was beginning to think about doing more, such as strength training and exercising my heart more. 

In 2019, I started going to Planet Fitness. It was only $10/month. I think it was really RBG who inspired me. 

2019

The biggest motivator, however, came in 2020, after a fall that injured my back (more about that in my Bone Health post). It was no longer enough for me to merely lose the excess weight to preserve joint health. Now I was forced to move more and in more ways, to strengthen my bones, to reduce the risk of fractures. I learned that movement pulls on bones and that is part of the process of stimulating bone growth -- now I had to increase bone density to reduce the risk of compression fractures. 

The fastest turnaround in weight gain/loss happened when I started using a fitness tracking device and app (I chose Fitbit). That is when I saw how much I still tended to eat more than I needed. That's why the weight was coming off so slowly. Empowered with an app, a weight scale, and a plan to establish new exercise habits, I went from 162 to 156 in five months. Do the math. From July 2013 to March 2020, I had gone from 176 to 162, an average of 2-3 pounds per year. As I said, that was fine with me then because I only cared about slowly reversing the weight gain trend. 

Now, I was hell bent on avoiding chronic pain. Sitting for hours was no longer an option. To make a full recovery after the spinal injury, I would have to get up and move every hour! I needed a Fitbit to help me do that. Setting a 1-hour timer on my phone wasn't enough. I needed more help to motivate me to move more. It was all about bone strengthening from this point on. 

My mother had gone through knee surgery. She never fully recovered her mobility. That woke me. Knees carrying an extra 40 pounds for years. They are going to wear out faster and that amounts to pain. Pain that limits walking. When people are in chronic physical pain, they move less and gain more. It slowly devolves into diabetes and chronic pain. Two conditions I was fixed on preventing. Not to mention the discomfort of being overweight. It just does not feel good. 

This is what my Fitbit looks like for 2020 - 2025. By October 2021, I was down to 131 pounds. How? Walking. A lot more walking. 

By November 2024, I was down to 115 pounds. I had been satisfied at 120, and then I thought, why not 115? Let's see how that feels. I am only 5' 4". Even at 120, I still had extra fat that I did not need. Once I hit 115, I maintained. 

This year (2025), due to an auto accident, surgeries and cancer diagnoses, I have had to change my routines. Activity has been restricted. New dietary restrictions became necessary. I decided to gain weight to have some reserves. I had dropped to 109 after the first surgery and then had to prep for a colonoscopy and colon surgery. It was actually difficult to gain weight quickly (I still had to consider what my kidneys could handle daily). 

As of the day of surgery, I weighed in at 116. A week later I had lost 4 lbs. Part of that loss was the removal of a tumor in my colon and 44 swollen lymph nodes from the abdominal area. 

I am presently 118 and satisfied to maintain that. 

As you can see from these screenshots, I was walking over 3 miles daily on average. My routine changed from walking to water jogging for an hour almost every day. Water jogging does not show up in the step count, and Fitbit cannot track my heart rate underwater, so the algorithm only shows the estimated calories burned for the distance and time of this activity. 

In November 2025, Fitbit's food database search bugged out and a lot of users got frustrated, myself included. I switched to Cronometer for nutrition tracking. It is far superior!

I don't want to swamp you with screenshots and details. You get the gist. 

What worked for me may not be the best choices for you. 

Figure out what works for you. 

I will add, in closing, that consulting with a registered dietician in 2022 is one of the best things I did. It got me on a path of relating to food as preventive medicine and brought me to where I am now - using an app to take the guess work out of what my body needs each day to be strong and vital. 

Celebrating with my son in 2023

2025 at Wellington Botanical Garden
New Zealand Trip

2025 Me & My Honeybear
Hiking the Slot Canyon Trail

Glutathione vs Glyphosate

 

Me with my son

 For my birthday this year, I received a 7-hour surgery to remove a tumor in my colon that had slowly, silently grown without any pain or  symptom. How was the tumor discovered? Literally by accident.

 At the same time, 44 swollen lymph nodes were removed and examined for cancer cells. 

 The best birthday present this year was waking up to the nurse saying, "Good news - no colostomy!" That was the one thing I begged the surgeon to do her best to avoid. She was amazing. Thank you, Dr. Allison Aka and Loma Linda Medical Center. 

 Today's blog is about glyphosate - the most common weed killer. Glyphosate residue is in much of the food most of us eat, unless you make an effort to minimize your consumption of it by choosing non-GMO and organically grown foods. On top of this measure to reduce exposure to this carcinogen, a doctor shared with me his son's lymphoma turnaround story, which they attribute to taking glutathione, a dietary supplement. He explained that glutathione helps our bodies get rid of glyphosate. I do not claim to understand scientific research, but it is available for those who want credible information about glutathione and glyphosate. 

I started taking glutathione supplements immediately. 

A pathologist examined all 44 lymph nodes that were removed. The good news was that the colon cancer was NOT metastasized (i.e. it had not traveled outside the colon, there were no colon cancer cells in the lymph nodes). It also was not sarcoidosis granulomas (it would have been better if it was, as sarcoidosis is merely an inflammatory disease, easier to manage). The bad news was (and is) that another kind of cancer was in the lymph nodes: 

Sections show complete effacement of the nodal architecture by sheets of small atypical lymphoid cells. No aggregates of large cells are seen. The atypical lymphoid cells are positive for CD20 (weak), CD5 (weak), CD23, BCL-2, and negative for CD3, cyclinD1, CD10, BCL-6. The Ki67 proliferation index ranges from 5% to focally up to 20%. The findings are consistent with SLL/CLL.

I was diagnosed with Non-Hodkin Lymphoma, SLL/CLL subtype, stage 2. 

For now, we only monitor it with blood tests (quarterly) and CT scans (twice a year), since my symptoms are only swollen lymph nodes above and below the diaphragm, and none so serious as to cause pain or disrupt breathing. My immune system is compromised. And I have developed anemia.

I did not have anemia six weeks after surgery. Anemia showed up in August and was worse in November blood test results. I did not understand a few things that would have helped turn it around faster:

1. Take vitamin C with iron - it's necessary to help the body absorb the iron, otherwise, iron in foods and supplements mostly goes to waste. 
2. Reduce caffeine - that too interferes with iron absorption. 
3. Other nutrients contribute to blood health: Folate, B12 (Cobalamin), Calcium and Vitamin K. 

 About 3 weeks ago, I discovered a nutrition tracking app that has proven very helpful. Cronometer. This screenshot is my average for the past 7 days. Without this app and my diligence in using it, I would be "flying blind" with regard to nutritional intake. These averages include the supplements I take as needed. More importantly, this app teaches which foods are rich in nutrients needed and I choose meals and snacks based on that. For example, sometimes I eat more celery because I see that I am low in Vitamin K - 100 grams of celery (about 3-4 medium stalks) provides 29 mg of Vitamin K. It depends. Some days I have already eaten more foods rich in this vitamin, then my snack or meal will focus on a different deficiency. 

That is a snapshot of vitamins in 100 grams of raw celery. Helpful information. But what if the celery you're eating has glyphosate - inside the cells - that cannot be washed off!?

The only things I can do to improve my chances of slowing down the progression of SLL/CLL cancer spread to bone marrow, lungs, liver or spleen (their usual transition), is to reduce the toxins in my food and take supplements that counteract such toxins. Glutathione binds to glyphosate and helps the body to get rid of it. Eating organic and non-GMO reduces the amount of glyphosate that I consume today. 

How much is enough glutathione? I don't know. I have not found sufficient research data to indicate how much is enough, or if there is such a thing as too much (glutathion toxicity?) That is a topic I continue to research. Here is one page I found about it, but I don't know enough yet to be able to say that I trust this website - is it objective? Are they scientific method-based? Still studying that. 

Please do tell me if you know more about glutathione vs glyphosate! 

Tell me anything you have learned about slowing or reversing the spread of SLL/CLL cancer cells - share the links, please! 

Glyphosate (weed killer) is used on most soy and corn crops in America. I avoid consuming more of this toxin, which I believe caused sarcoidosis and kidney failure (2014) and I also believe that is when both cancers started. Both are very slow cancers that can take 10+ years to manifest. There is no way that the colon cancer removed this year (April 2025) recently started growing. I think glyphosate was the beginning of the end for me. 

Now, my life is a series of habits developed to minimize glyphosate consumption and reverse its impact. Glutathione helped my optometrist's son. He is a physician, he has studied this connection for years, and he recommended the supplement. Time will tell. It's only been six months for me. Maybe by this time next year I will not have anemia, my blood health will be restored, and the swollen lymph nodes in my neck and clavicle area will decrease in size. There's hope! 

Thank you for sharing my health journey. ❤

Bone Health

 

On the 13th of January in 2020 we had a blast at Galaxy's Edge, a brand new Star Wars installation at Disneyland California. I was laughing out loud and screaming with excitement in the cockpit of the Millennial Falcon five days before *It* Happened. 

This day at Disneyland instantly became one of those moments in life that you look back on happily with zero regret. I'm so glad I got to do this before...

On the 18th, a permanent life-altering event occurred and changed the trajectory of the rest of my life. I would never be able to joyfully ride a roller coaster or any kind of extreme thrill ride ever again. There are worse fates. I know this. I reminded myself daily. 

But nobody wants to use a walker when they are not even close to retirement age! Nobody wants to be seen using a walker. Nobody wants to hold up traffic because they have to take such baby steps to avoid sharp stabbing pain. 

I was simply watering the plants on my balcony . A few drops spilled on the smooth tile floor. Add to that hazard that the balcony turf was damp with dew. I was barefoot. I stepped inside, wiped my feet on a bamboo mat, took a few steps, did not see the water droplets, and slipped much the way a clown does when they do the banana peel stunt for laughs. Except I wasn't doing it for laughs. I was not prepared for that hard landing. My right heel slipped in the drops of water. My right leg went straight up, and there was nothing to break my fall. I came straight down on my butt. 

Whatever happened inside my spine at that moment, it splayed me out on the floor hollering in pain and frozen in the one position that was least painful. For the next many weeks, that would be my favorite position: flat on my back with knees up. 

My husband was home, which was very fortunate, because I could not have crawled or reached for a phone. This is no exaggeration. I told the EMT crew that I could not sit up on the chair they wanted to use to carry me down two flights of stairs -- a reasonable hope and request, they thought -- they rather insisted that I try, just try and get into the chair, we'll help you -- stabbing pain aside -- I did try, and it was so excruciating I blacked out. Total blackout. Unconscious. My brain flipped the NOPE switch. I didn't know pain could do that. I remember them holding my arms, pulling me up, turning me to sit in the chair and that's the last thing I was conscious of. I guess I fell forward and they caught me. They decided to carry me down in a sheet or blanket. I was unconscious during this decision and came to as they maneuvered me onto the sheet -- also very painful, but I was laying down, so it didn't matter if I blacked out again. It's a weird feeling to go unconscious. It's not like falling asleep, which happens gradually most of the time. It's a millisecond. You're aware. You're not. Blink of an eye. How does the brain do that? And why? 

Anyway. It was a bumpy ride. They kept apologizing and asking me health history and checking my vitals. At the ER they had to transfer me onto a hospital gurney. Every move was a 10 on the pain scale. This terrified me. What happened to my back? Did I break my hip? What's going on in my spine? 

Eventually an X-ray showed that I had a compression fracture on the L3 vertebra (lumbar region, middle-to-lower back). They called it "mild". My 10-level pain said otherwise. And every time I sat up, I fainted. So they admitted me to the hospital, because I was in no condition to walk up two stairs, let alone two flights. In the event of a fire, I would have been stranded -- maybe I could have slithered down the stairs like a lizard. 

The experience of "breaking your back" is daunting. Overwhelming with questions and anxieties. Will my back heal completely? Will I have to live in pain for the rest of my life? Will I have a back problem for the rest of my life? How bad will it be? And most importantly: What can I do to make a full recovery?

Meanwhile, the specialists were trying to get at the root cause of my blacking out every time I sat up. They never did solve that. It went away on its own about a week later. They weren't sure what caused it. It was none of the things they tested and examined -- it was not a vein issue, not a heart issue, not a respiratory issue. They even sent in a psychiatrist. I suppose to see if there was some underlying motivation causing a psychosomatic event. Nope. They chalked it up to a vasovagal nerve event (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vasovagal-syncope/symptoms-causes/syc-20350527)

This was before the pandemic started in the USA. There was little knowledge of the new deadly virus. I don't watch news. I had not heard anything about people dying in hospitals in China, and even if I had, it was so remote, I wouldn't have worried about it. But then my wild-conspiracy-theorist brother called and told me about it and predicted, well, I have to admit, he predicted worldwide impact. It was going to spread everywhere fast and it was going to kill millions. 

I was stuck in a hospital from January 18th to February 6th. Two weeks of physical therapy helped me to manage going up and down stairs safely. 

From this point on, I was on a mission to regain my strength. I didn't care that I had to use a walker. I cared about one thing: walk every day, as much as you can, until you can walk all the way to the beach (1 mile from home) and back without having to stop and rest. 

I had physical therapy appointments twice weekly, however, by early March there were 8 cases of coronavirus in my home town. These were the known cases. There was not a lot of testing happening yet, and it was likely many people were walking around with sniffles and mild coughs, thinking nothing of it, not masking, because none of us knew how to stop an epidemic at that point. (Later, we would learn the hard way why it wasn't a good idea to fire the pandemic response team. I wonder how much money that saved, compared to the cost in lives and hospital bills and supply chain obliteration.) 

As soon as I saw that 8 known cases were in my neighborhood, I canceled my PT appointments. I would DIY my rehab from then on. Walking became my mainstay. I only needed the walker for a  month. Then I managed to keep steady with a cane. By May 2020, I was able to enjoy myself, as long as I always had lumbar support. I bought this great lumbar pillow and took it on long drives and airplane trips. I've lost it twice and immediately bought another, that's how perfect it is. This is the one I bought: 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HS43Z72

Pandemic sidenote (skip this paragraph if you can't stand to think about it). We (me, my husband, our children and grandchildren) were grateful and supportive for the shutdown mandated in California. We weren't upset. And were not whiny about masks, handwashing or social distancing. We were well informed and committed to doing whatever it takes to stop the spread, to save lives, to ease the burden on hospital staff. Some people favored the idea of herd immunity -- just let the virus sweep across the globe and kill whomever -- anyone who can't survive it, tough luck. We didn't subscribe to that attitude. Doctors were dying trying to help other families live. Nurses and EMTs were dying. Firefighters were dying. School teachers were dying. Our workforce was dying. The global supply chain was coming undone. Moms and Dads who worked in tight spaces, food processing plants -- the front line workers who kept us all well fed -- they were getting hospitalized for weeks, sometimes months, and still dying.  Babies and children were getting multi-system inflammatory disease. I had no tolerance for whining. Wearing a mask was such an easy little thing to do. Grow up! Sorry, I had and have no sympathy for whiners. Just do it already. The pandemic cost me personally a lot in terms of faith, hope and love. I'm still not over it. It was ugly, selfish, and short-sighted. It was lazy. It wasn't hard to be informed. It wasn't hard to check facts. It wasn't hard to wear a mask. It wasn't hard to stand six feet apart. It wasn't hard to dine at an outdoor patio instead of sharing air in a small, enclosed space. It wasn't hard to wash hands and use sanitizer. That was all so easy and life-saving. I will never forget the violence and ugliness of people who refused to mask and attacked others for masking. I lost all faith in humanity in 2020. 

Okay, I'm done talking about that. The bigger *It* that happened in 2020 for me was the broken back. Five years and eleven months later as I write this, I have a lumbar support pillow behind me. I go water jogging most days and walk 2-3 miles other days. I go hiking on steep mountain trails without any trouble. Why did the fall cause a compression fracture to begin with? Easy. I was on a low calcium diet due to chronic kidney disease, since 2014. I had osteoporosis. 

Hiking in Idaho
August 2020

Hiking in Oregon
October 2020

Hiking in California
October 2020

RULE #1 - If you want to strengthen your bones, you must use your muscles! When we use muscles, it pulls on our bones, and that triggers the body's natural bone-strengthening process. When you stop using your muscles, you lose bone density and bone strength. A simple fall can be life-changing. My lifestyle became all about recovering my bone strength and keeping my bones and muscles strong. 

I faithfully did all of the exercises taught to me by physical therapists at home on my own during the pandemic. I was laser-focused on getting back to my normal -- to recover my ability to go hiking. I love the outdoors -- that's my happy place! 

I knew in 2016 that I was getting osteoporosis. A bone density test said so. But in 2016, my kidney function was still at Stage 4 CKD, with only 20-30 eGFR and creatinine >2.5. I had to prioritize my kidneys. 

Once my kidneys were close to normal range, in 2022, I began to prioritize bone health. I let them give me two injections to promote bone growth, increased my calcium intake, and started an exercise routine. The single most important thing I did 2020-to-present is invest time and money into a fitness tracking device (Fitbit) and a nutrition tracking app. I made it a daily habit, to enter everything I ate and drank, and to increase my activity. At first, it was hard to hit 1,000 steps daily. But I kept pushing myself to do a little more. I also pushed myself to lose weight, because I was around 160 pounds in 2020. Carrying 40 extra pounds is not helpful to the joints and spine. So losing weight became important to me for health reasons. I didn't want to need knee or hip replacement surgery. The less burden I put on my joints, the longer they'll last, pain-free. That was my motivation...strengthen my bones, and make it easier on the joints. Today I weigh 118. I use Fitbit device for activity and Cronometer app for nutrient tracking. 

In 2022 I spoke with a registered dietitian about my health priorities and limits, and she gave me priceless guidance that I have followed since. 

I take two Seed synbiotic capsules every morning (seed.com). I eat very healthy, with my focus on maximum nutritional value per calorie. I do splurge occasionally - I treat myself to tiramisu about once a month. I occasionally indulge in chocolate or cheesecake. But for the most part, I stay true to my healthy habits. It's too easy to backslide. 

I research nutrition facts at what I consider to be reliable science-based sites, like WebMD, Mayo Clinic, and others. Here's a fantastic comparison chart on the nutritional values of various cooking oils. 

Follow me @herzenity on Instagram for more tips, or feel free to use the contact form below to ask questions. 

Today, I won't ride a roller coaster or do anything that jerks my spine, and I am habitually careful about the ways I use my back. A compression fracture does not heal exactly back to the way it was -- it never pops back up. Think of a soda can getting crushed somewhat. The L3 vertebra still shows up as compressed in my CT scans. My spine will always have a weak spot. But I am pain free! I am able to go hiking! I can do long plane trips thanks to the lumbar pillow! So, I am deeply grateful to the specialists who have contributed to my recovery. 

Hiking in Idyllwild, August 2025
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Kidney Failure

Did you know that kidney failure is a silent killer? 

Fact: Kidney disease, also known as “chronic kidney disease (CKD),” causes more deaths each year than breast cancer or prostate cancer. It is the under-recognized public health crisis. (kidney.org)

Now that I've briefly introduced myself and this blog, let's talk about kidney failure and kidney health in general. If you read yesterday's "Hello" post, you already know that my kidneys were on the verge of shutting down in 2014. If I had not gone to the doctor that day, it is highly likely I would have lied in bed thinking rest and fluids would make me feel better, and I would probably have died in my sleep. My poor husband, we were only married three months when this happened. What a horrible thing that would have been for him, and everyone else who loves me. I was that close. So let's talk about kidneys, what they do, and how to keep your kidneys thriving so they can keep you feeling awesome!

Kidneys filter everything. Every single thing we swallow or inhale gets into the blood stream through the gut or lungs -- even everything absorbed through our skin! When we handle chemicals such as weed killers, bug killers, etc., without gloves and masks, it gets in. It's as simple as that. So follow warning labels. Simple. Just do it. 

Kidneys have one of the most difficult jobs in your body. They filter every drop of blood as it circulates 24/7. That's what they will do if you have healthy kidneys. They are also part of the process that makes new healthy blood cells! 

Compromised kidneys can't do that. Compromised by what, you ask? Dehydration, for starters. 

People do not drink enough water. You've heard it all your life. Drink eight (8) cups of water daily. Simple. Just do it. 

I hated water. So believe me, I get it. I literally hated to drink water. I drank coffee most of the day. I thought of it as flavored water. 

Sometimes I drank herbal tea or green tea. Sometimes I drank juice, usually cranberry -- at least that was helpful! But water? Uh-huh. I would drink Gatorade. Sometimes I would dilute juice or Gatorade with water, but that was as close to drinking water as I got. It was rare for me to drink good ol' water.

Now, after what I've been through with ten years of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which is the clinical way of saying that my kidneys were constantly failing, I drink 64 ounces minimum daily. That was the first step toward healing my damaged kidneys. 

My kidneys functioned at less than 50% for a decade. For the first two years after my April 2014 hospitalization, my kidneys were at 12 to 20% function. That means I had less than half a kidney! 

It is only by staying hydrated -- Rule #1 -- and maintaining a strict kidney diet of very low amounts of foods that are rich in calcium, potassium and sodium that I avoided dialysis and helped my kidneys to slowly heal. Very slowly. 

Let me share what that lifestyle was like, just to scare you into staying hydrated and reducing the amount of sodium you probably eat. 

Whenever we went out to eat, nearly everything on the menu had too much sodium. I could have a salad of iceberg lettuce, but I could not have my favorite -- a spinach salad. I could not have leafy greens that were rich in those three minerals. Almost every vegetable and fruit is rich in those three minerals. 

Want to know what I could have? Canned peaches. Apples. Iceberg lettuce. Yippee. 

Then there's salad dressing. Nope. Almost every kind served in restaurants is too high in sodium. I could have oil and vinegar. But not a vinaigrette, look at almost every brand in the store -- look at the sodium (in many countries the label simply uses the word "salt" because that is what it is). 

I could not have salt. Period. Look at how much sodium is in a dash of salt. Now add that to naturally occurring sodium in vegetables, dairy, grains, meats and fish, and you quickly see how easy it is to consume too much sodium when you have less than half a kidney to serve your entire body. 

People who lose one kidney must maintain a kidney-friendly diet for the rest of their lives. If they don't they will soon find themselves on dialysis and a transplant list, if they consent to such invasive medical procedures. I do not consent -- my Advanced Healthcare Directive specifically forbids both. I find these measures too extreme and not worth the loss of quality of life. In plain English, I would rather die than live like that. Someone else can have the donated kidney. I'm done here when it gets that complicated.

I also had to restrict protein. So what did I eat, you wonder? Carbs. Lots of empty calories. Lots of boring foods. I was so unhappy about this diet, for so many years, I almost didn't care and almost decided to eat whatever I wanted and just die already. Why did I choose to try to regain my kidney health and restore my quality of life (being able to enjoy foods I love)? My son was in college. He needed his Mom whether or not he understood how much that was true.

I could not have soup or gravy, and most sauces in restaurants and stores are ridiculously high in sodium. And I love curry!!! I couldn't enjoy naan or curry when we went to Indian and Thai restaurants. 

I could have limited amounts of dairy. And did you know that oranges are rich in calcium? Oranges were a no-no for me for many years. 

Almost everything is now fortified with calcium - cereals, milks of all kinds, breads and other grain products. 

For nearly ten years, I felt frustrated whenever I had to figure out what I could eat when we were away from home. I had to make my own unsalted trail mixes. It was hard to find unsalted nuts! Most grocery stores were completely unconscious about the need for low-sodium and unsalted products. 

I can't estimate how many hours were spent reading nutrition labels. To this day, I leave jars and cans on the shelf turned with the nutrition label facing customers to make it obvious. You're welcome. 

Look at the sodium content in most hamburger buns. There's half my diet for the day if I order a hamburger -- sodium naturally occurs in most meats and fish, and in tomatoes, and salt is added to mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. Pickles are soaked in salt! So there goes my ideal burger - no pickles, no condiments, only meat, lettuce and tomato on a bun. Yippee. 

I was miserable! 

Go on, lecture me about being thankful for what I could eat and remind me that things could be worse. I lectured myself all the time about that. 

The downside of prioritizing the healing of my kidneys and maintaining a low calcium diet for eight years is that I developed osteoporosis (weak bones). In 2020, I fell and fractured my spine! I had a bone density test in 2016 and was told that osteoporosis was starting to develop. In 2021, my doctor ordered another bone density test and this time used the word "severe" to describe it. That freaked me out, especially having already fallen once and injured my back! That's another part of my health journey that I will post about later. 

In June 2020, my kidney test came back at 31 eGFR and serum creatinine 1.73 -- still had CKD. But hey, this was a huge improvement since 2014! And it was all due to two things I did faithfully: drink plenty of water, and stay on a kidney-friendly nutrition path. 

I learned from the Kidney Foundation (https://www.kidney.org/nutrition) what foods are helpful to kidneys and I ate those in spades. They were my primary source of knowledge. I also spoke with a registered dietitian in 2022 when it was time to adjust my diet, when my kidneys were well enough that I could prioritize bone strength. 

It was scary to switch tracks. Even though today (and since early 2025) my blood tests show that my kidneys are 50 or more eGFR and creatinine has actually hit in the normal range! I am still nervous about "too much" calcium, sodium and other minerals. But my bones need it! 

For most of the past decade, I was told by my nephrologist (kidney specialist) not to take any supplements. None. Except cranberry extract, that was safe. I was also told to avoid being in the sun for too long (so that limited my hiking choices). Why? Because I had to go to the ER multiple times due to hypercalcemia and part of the problem was that my kidneys were not handling Vitamin D properly, and when we're in the sun, our bodies make Vitamin D, so that was part of the problem. Sunscreen doesn't have any role in reducing the amount of Vitamin D your body makes from sunlight. I had to wear long sleeves and a hat and limit my time in the sun. It was so frustrating! I love the outdoors!

Meanwhile, I'm dealing with an inflammatory auto-immune disease (sarcoidosis), trying to put that in remission and keep it there, because God only knows where it will decide to deposit granulomas!!! Brain? Lungs? Bone marrow? My daughter was diagnosed with sarcoidosis a year after me -- and she had been working in the yard with me in 2013, so something tells me it's no coincidence and it's not mere genetics -- it's that damn Roundup! If I could prove that I purchased and used the product the year before I had kidney failure and sarcoidosis, I would join the lawsuit! (https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/roundup-lawsuit.html). 

In my daughter's case, it caused pulmonary fibrosis and was also found in the bone marrow as the root cause of low white blood cells and other blood issues. It's a scary disease. Use gloves and masks! Chemicals absorb through skin. She also breathed fine dust in a workplace environment where sanding was part of the manufacturing process. As for my case, it has never done much in my lungs. My lungs have scattered, small somethings -- it's not growing or interfering, so they don't biopsy it, it's too deep in the lungs, too invasive, so we just assume it's probably sarcoid granulomas. Time will tell. 

But this post is about kidney health. So let me wrap it up by telling you... 

I NEVER HAD KIDNEY STONES OR KIDNEY PAIN, YET MY KIDNEYS WERE SO CLOSE TO COMPLETE FAILURE THAT I LITERALLY WOULD HAVE DIED IF I HAD NOT DECIDED TO GET CHECKED BY A DOCTOR. 

Of all the little issues I had (see yesterday's post), it never occurred to me that I had a kidney problem. I thought I had MS! Kidney failure is a silent killer. So make that call. Get a checkup just to be safe. It's a very simple test, one vial of blood is all they need to see your eGFR and creatinine levels. Make the call now. 

This is me in 2025, petting the wild donkeys of Riverside
Follow @herzenity on Instagram for more fun photos

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