Worrying mother in a strange city learning to take care of her single kidney diebetic daughter

My twenty seven year old daughter was diagnosed diebetic two years ago then discovered with only one kidney and that one kidney is deteriorating. The doctor is talking about dialysis and transplant. I am so sad seeing my child so young but had to needle herself and take pills by handful. After graduation from college she stayed in London running her little social enterprise. I have moved to London to take care of her daily life and food. We are chinese and I am really depressed and confused, but trying my best to learn about potassium, phosphate and sugar and salt ... I suddenly I don’t know how to cook without soya sauce. Her kidney function is now down to seventeen and if it gets to ten they will start dialysis. I am very frightened I don’t do well enough in helping my daughter.

[Hidden]

You sound like you are a very dedicated mom and I am sure you are doing what is best for your daughter. Try not to be discouraged.

I agree learning to cook a new way for the kidney diet can be overwhelming. I find it best to cook very simple meals.

I am so sorry your daughter's kidney is failing. Sometimes kidneys fail no matter what we do but she will still benefit from eating a kidney friendly diet.

Have you tried looking for a local cooking class? Sometimes they have them available for medical diets.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

Hi Hidden,

Just a quick reply about the soy sauce. There is a product called coconut amino which is sweeter than soy but works and tastes much the same. I use it as I am experimenting now with Asian fusion cooking. It is yummy and kidney safe. 90 mg of salt in a tablespoon.

By switching up her diet, she may be able to maintain her current kidney function for a long time.

There is a lot of information here on this site is you look at Diet and Nutrition. She is she can get to a renal dietician for an plan that will work for both of you. Here is a good one:

davita.com

[Jayhawker]

First, please don’t doubt how helpful it is for your daughter for you to be there to help. It is nearly a full time job at first to learn how to plan and cook renal friendly meals. I ate a lot of raw vegetables and fresh fruit initially. For protein it was primarily egg whites, eggs, and boneless, skinless chicken breast. Everything was roasted or baked. Only olive oil or canola oil; just healthier oils.

Recently I was encouraged try my nephrologist to shift to a vegetarian diet if I wanted, but you should talk with a dietician or nephrologist before going this route as elevated potassium is often an issue for persons with chronic kidney disease. If a vegetarian diet works for your daughter there are lots of plant based proteins to add to vegetarian meals. I’m now learning to cook and eat tofu. I’m also adding hemp seeds to my oatmeal every morning along with egg whites ... Of course, I’m making other changes to be sure I’m eating enough high value plant based protein each day. But again, this is with the approval of my nephrologist and the help of a renal dietician.

The Davita.com web site helped me a lot at first. There is also an app I have on my phone that I’ve found to be most helpful:

HealthWatch360

It is free and available for either iPhones or android phones. While I’m in the grocery store I can take a picture of the bar code on the item I’m considering buying, e.g., rice milk. The app connects directly to the USDA database. So it tells me the full nutritional makeup for that brand of the item. I compare brands and then buy that which will work best with my specific nutritional requirements.

You can also enter family favorite recipes into the app, it will then calculate nutritional makeup per serving. I’ve also been able to figure out how to make minor modifications in family favorite recipes, e.g., substituting red bell peppers for tomatoes. With this app I can see how the substitution works within my diet.

And finally, you can put your weekly meal plan into the app. It will give you daily nutritional totals. I ignore its advice on how much potassium I should eat as I’m supposed to eat less potassium. So I just check to be sure my daily potassium intake is within my specific dietary restrictions. I can also share this information with my doctors, nurses, and dietician when I get to doctors’ appointments directly from my phone.

I don’t know if there is a similar app set up for use with grocery ingredients in the UK, but would hope there is. And perhaps HealthWatch360 can be set for different countries; I’m not sure about that.

Jayhawker