Story time!
Yesterday I found out that I have bilateral renal cortical cyst. What I thought to be as simple rib sprain turned out to be not a sprain but caused by cysts in my kidneys. If not for the 3 day stomach cramps that we thought to be caused by ulcer, I wouldn’t be convinced to have it checked by ultrasound. And lo and behold, it’s worse than what we suspected.
What is renal cortical cyst? It is a fluid filled sac that are found in the kidney cortex. Although it is caused by high protein and high sodium diet it can also be hereditary. Symptoms appear when the cysts are large enough to cause hypoxia-ischemia to the kidney, and while it grows it can lead to kidney failure.
I had two of the 4 most common symptoms, the hip,flank and back pain and the frequent urination at night. Which is kind of good I guess, because blood in the urine and high blood pressure means that my kidneys are under a lot of stress. I have been complaining about the flank pain that radiated toward my back for almost half the year. And I always ignored my family’s and friends’ constant nagging for me to have it checked out. Until yesterday, now I have to go to a specialist for the proper treatment and diet plan to follow.
And thus alas I am pissed off because I enjoy eating a wide variety of foods. I am specially fond of medium rare steaks and raw foods like sushi and sashimi, now I am told to avoid them and sodas and COFFEE. My heart broke on that one. Coffee is one of the beverages that I can’t go on in a day without drinking atleast 2 cups. It keeps me sane and in a good mood. As I am to be closely monitored in my eating habits from now on, I have to ignore my body’s craving for those substances and well let it be dependent on another (green tea). And I of course have to increase my water intake to help my kidney dilute the excess proteins and sodium in my body to prevent the further growth of the cysts.
So folks, listen to what your bodies are telling you. As they say health is wealth.
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