catching up.

man, i feel like i don't have enough time to continue the blog as in depth as i could but after the overwhelmingly kind comments about how helpful and sweet the blog is, i will try my hardest to continue it.

cory has all of the sheets on the different types of home dialysis so i will be leaving that out of this blog - even though i have promised others that i will talk about it. there are quite a few different home remedies but i need to educate myself a little more before i feel comfortable enough relaying the information to you.

this past week has just been a whirl wind of information and also just getting into a routine with dialysis and also eating patterns etc. cory and i have had someone over for dinner almost every night this past week. courtney and my friend amber came over last week for spaghetti, which seems to be cory's favorite. all that it is, is no salt added organic chopped tomatoes, no salt added organic stewed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and herb mrs. dash and one small can of no salt added organic tomato paste with chopped jalapeno. i then take low fat organic ground turkey meat saute it until brown with olive oil and a little honey and then add the juices and meat to the sauce, garnished at the last minute with fresh basil and oregano. YUM - he loves it and it is a light and healthy alternative to a traditional Italian spaghetti - we have served it usually with thin organic whole wheat pasta but we switched it up with rigatoni noodles.

then, we went over to andre sr.'s and i made an interesting orange rosemary chicken. you pour a little olive oil and orange juice (fresh squeezed from jamba juice is what i used, that we you don't get any additional sugar added - it's just the orange) then you pound the chicken so it's nice and tender, roll it in olive oil and garlic then put the rosemary and black pepper on it, put them in the pan with the olive oil and orange juice and pour an extra cup in of orange juice over the chicken and baste if necessary throughout the cooking so it doesn't dry. we put it over a cup of brown rice and added hot sauce, another really light hearty meal in place of the usual orange teriyaki chicken.

lastly, cory was wanting steak, so one of his oldest friends, vince, came over with his wife stephanie for a feast. top sirloin is a great steak to have, it's juicy, really thick, but has one of the lowest fat contents of all steaks. cory broiled the steaks with black pepper and an array of mrs. dash seasonings. i made sweet potato mashed potatoes. AMAZING. the sweet potato is lower in starches then the regular potato and it was fun to watch everyone eat them for the first time and be so surprised on how yummy they were, i added fat free milk, a salt alternative, black pepper, and smart balance fake butter to make them taste as much as regular fatty mashed potatoes. my favorite part about this is sharing recipes and knowledge with everyone that comes in the door. my goal at least is to learn something new everyday about cory's condition and pass that on to someone he knows or loves him. that way you get in the habit of doing those things yourself, whether it's exercising, or using less salt in your diet, you can start to tell the difference in cory's mood as well as how he is looking. we went over to see my mom last night and she told him how different he looked from the last time, it's amazing how much liquid is retained in your body, and as my friend jody would say, how "fluffy" or bloated you start to look without even realizing it's just from the amount of salt you're in taking.

i am also trying to use as much organic as possible, not just because i was raised on it but also because of the simple advantages that it holds. there are so many added pesticides to all food that if i can help contain the amount that cory and i are ingesting, it is only added years to our lives. my goal for everyone is to buy organic as much as possible but only with things that you are directly ingesting, such as a strawberry would be a great organic item to consider where as an avacado doesn't make much difference because you are not eating the entire thing, the pesticides will be caught by the outer skin and not affect what you're eating. be considerate and educate yourself on your food, if it says natural, half of the time that just means that they've cut 50% of the pesticides then before, if it says natural on salmon, that still means that they're farming it, it's just in a "natural setting", you want to just be observant. if it says less sodium, that just means they took of 2% out of the 320mg - still over 10% of your daily value. they fool you into buying - just beware, especially if you are not only looking out for yourself but your children too!

for the most part, cory is doing great. we had a scare there for a second, we are planning to leave for hawaii and weren't set up with a dialysis center on maui, it is supposed to take over a month to set up the process and send the records, but thanks to chris at nw kidney center it is in the works and he will, with no problems, dilate in maui. we are looking forward to the time together as long as the sun, most importantly we will celebrate cory being alive and well enough to enjoy such a wonderful vacation we have been waiting for, for some time now. he is not able to get into the water, the catheter he has is VERY susceptible to disease created by the incision and if water comes into contact the germs are more likely to feed on the wet area around the incision - possibly deadly. so on that note, we will not be snorkeling. he will try to cover the catheter so that he can wade in the pool. he also cannot drink, which is fine, we have tried to fill the days with other activities so that we will be entertained. i am excited, he is as well. i will definitely have TONS of pictures and memories to share from our trip and will hopefully finish the different types of dialysis on the plane there.

until then, appreciate your health and continue to look out for your future by making small transitions in your health for large payoffs in your future!

much love.