La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
First: What’s stressing me out. At the nephrologist yesterday, he didn’t say “I have good news and bad news.” He simply jumped right in and gave me good news. The protein (the amount my kidneys have been rejecting for a while now) has dropped to 185. That’s from a high of close to 8,000, while the doctor told me he’d like to see mine at 150. I was elated. For barely a moment. He didn’t look excited and said my creatinine reading was up and that’s not good. So, he’s reducing the med that’s been attacking the protein problem. I had an additional blood test immediately after our appointment (an important one that was forgotten again). The doctor will phone next week with results before he takes off for the beach for a month.
Being that my special med is used for people who’ve had organ transplants and there are a variety of different doses, it’s rarely immediately available at the pharmacy, but they always get it delivered for me the next day. The doctor wants me to start on the new dosage immediately. I went to pick up the order today. The pharmacy assistant forgot to place it yesterday. That’s never happened before. So, I have to go back tomorrow which means I can’t start the new dose until Thursday morning. Of course that’s got me stressed. I’ll survive (at least it’s likely I will). I’ve been run down lately. It turns out that’s a symptom of the increase in creatinine. I’m in good hands. I’m just whiney.
As pick-me-ups, we went to Goiko Grill for dinner last night and were treated like family. Plus, they insist on treating us to a Goiko Cookie, which I’ve graciously turned down a couple of times. But I said, oh what the hell. I was in bed at 12:30 last night, woke up this morning at 7 to take my pill, immediately went back to bed, and slept until 11:30. I hate missing the morning.
We went for lunch at La Popina today to get another pick-us-up by seeing Joel. It worked. And chef/owner Martín is a wonder. We both had salmorejo (cold soup made famous in Cordoba). I had traditional. It was delicious. San Geraldo had with the addition of beets. I hate beets. SG didn’t like the bits of other things (like ham, which I loved).
After I licked my bowl clean (in a manner of speaking) SG offered me a taste of his. Remember. I HATE beets. “Are you nuts?” I replied in my best Kid Brother voice. He insisted “You can’t even taste the beets.” As I scooped a little on the spoon I made an unfinished threat, “If this ruins the wonderful taste I have in my mouth from MY salmorejo…” I tasted. I muttered and made noises and grabbed my water and then the glass of coke. It didn’t even taste like beets? My ass! As a matter of fact, my ass would taste better!
I washed the taste thoroughly from my mouth and then had fresh watermelon. Because SG didn’t like his perfectly good salmorejo, and although we both insisted that it was simply San Geraldo and not the quality of the dish, Martín sent out a plate of fried eggplant covered in cane sugar honey.
I taught Joel two new English words today for miel de caña, treacle (British) and molasses (American). He preferred treacle. “It’s easier to pronounce.” I didn’t tell him I used to say TREE-ah-cull.
Primero: ¿Qué me está estresando? Ayer en el nefrólogo, no me dijo: “Tengo buenas y malas noticias”. Simplemente me dio la buena. La proteína (la cantidad que mis riñones llevan un tiempo rechazando) ha bajado a 185. Eso desde un máximo de casi 8000, mientras que el médico me dijo que le gustaría ver la mía en 150. Estaba eufórica. Solo por un momento. No parecía entusiasmada y dijo que mi nivel de creatinina había subido y que eso no era bueno. Así que está reduciendo la medicación que ha estado atacando el problema de la proteína. Me hice un análisis de sangre adicional inmediatamente después de nuestra cita (uno importante que se me olvidó otra vez). El médico llamará la semana que viene con los resultados antes de irse a la playa un mes.
Como mi medicación especial se usa para personas con trasplantes de órganos y hay varias dosis, rara vez está disponible de inmediato en la farmacia, pero siempre me la entregan al día siguiente. El médico quiere que empiece con la nueva dosis inmediatamente. Fui a recoger el pedido hoy. El dependiente olvidó hacerla ayer. Nunca me había pasado. Así que tengo que volver mañana, lo que significa que no puedo empezar la nueva dosis hasta el jueves por la mañana. Claro que me estresa. Sobreviviré (al menos es probable). Últimamente estoy agotado. Resulta que es un síntoma del aumento de creatinina. Estoy en buenas manos. Solo estoy quejoso.
Para animarnos, anoche fuimos a cenar a Goiko Grill y nos trataron como familia. Además, insistieron en invitarnos a una galleta Goiko, que he rechazado amablemente un par de veces. Pero dije, qué demonios. Anoche me acosté a las 12:30, me desperté esta mañana a las 7 para tomar la pastilla, volví a la cama inmediatamente y dormí hasta las 11:30. Odio perderme la mañana.
Hoy fuimos a almorzar a La Popina para animarnos un poco viendo a Joel. Funcionó. Y el chef/dueño Martín es una maravilla. Los dos pedimos salmorejo (sopa fría que se hizo famosa en Córdoba). Yo pedí el tradicional. Estaba delicioso. San Geraldo lo pidió con remolacha. Odio la remolacha. A SG no le gustaban los trocitos de otras cosas (como el jamón, que me encantaba). Después de lamer mi plato hasta dejarlo limpio (por así decirlo), SG me ofreció probar el suyo. Recuerda. ODIO la remolacha. “¿Estás loco?” respondí con mi mejor vacío de El Hermanito. Insistió: “Ni siquiera se siente el sabor de la remolacha”. Mientras tomaba un poco con la cuchara, amenacé sin terminar: “Si esto arruina el maravilloso sabor que tengo en la boca de mi salmorejo…” Probé. Murmuré e hice ruidos y agarré mi agua y luego el vaso de Coca-Cola. ¿Ni siquiera sabía a remolacha? ¡Mi culo! De hecho, ¡Mi culo tendría mejor sabor!
Me lavé bien la boca y luego comí sandía fresca. Como a SG no le gustó su salmorejo, que estaba buenísimo, y aunque ambos insistimos en que era simplemente San Geraldo y no la calidad del plato, Martín nos mandó un plato de berenjenas fritas cubiertas de miel de caña.
Hoy le enseñé a Joel dos palabras nuevas en inglés para miel de caña: treacle (británico) y molasses (estadounidense). Prefirió treacle. «Es más fácil de pronunciar».
• Salmorejo. Delicioso.
• Salmorejo, con puta remolacha.
• Berenjenas fritas con miel de caña.
Eggplant with molasses sounds a lot more alarming to me than beets. But to each his own.
I hope this new dosage gets your kidneys where they need to be!
Steve,
Oh the fried eggplant is so good! I’m so drained. Hope things change!
Oh SG, BEETS?!!!! BEETS?!!!! My crush has truly been crushed! *SOB*(the crying kind of sob). Scoot, you had the right idea with the watermelon. All that stress and you had to consume beets on top of it. You have my hugs and best wishes for a happy turn out on all of your medical thingies.
Beets! Noooooo!
Deedles,
Bless you for that reaction to beets! Blech Blech Blech
Imagine ruining good food with beets!! Nasty things, taste like dirt.
I’m glad some of your health news is so good. You certainly have dramatic numbers. My kidney test names and numbers are a mystery to me. Boud
Boud,
I am so reassured by how many people here hate beets as much as I. I don’t understand as much as I probably should about my numbers. The good news meant nothing to him, because of the bad news. It’s exhausting.
Morning is overrated, sleep through it at will. We do hope you are feeling better soon. There is a nice recipie for the soup here https://www.themediterraneandish.com/salmorejo-spanish-chilled-tomato-soup/. Something to try on a hot summer day.
David,
Currently, I could sleep through morning, afternoon, evening, and night.
Beets? If Carlos had tricked me into eating beets by saying you couldn’t tates them, he’d never taste anything again.
Your soup looks dee-lish and I saw David’s recipe and I think I will try it this weekend!
Sending all kinds of positive thoughts on your health and the meds and the pharmacy and all that!
Bob,
I can’t believe I listened to him. I should tell him that the next time I have something filled with olives. Thanks!
Aaaaah. Berenjenas con miel de Cana. Mi favorito.
Jesse,
And they are so good at La Popina.
I quite like beets, being a Ukrainian wannabe. But it’s true — you can ALWAYS taste the beets in whatever they are in. I had beet ice cream once. What did it taste like? Beets.
We’re both laughing at your comment! The only beets dish I ever had that didn’t taste like beets were beet crisps (like potato chips). Delicious!
Glen hates beets with a passion. I like them fine if they’re pickled, mostly.
Okay. Damn. I hate hearing about the creatinine. I know you sure didn’t want to hear about it either. Kidneys are so important. We hardly ever think about that until we have trouble with them. I remember my anatomy teacher in nursing school telling us that instead of saying “I love you with all my heart,” we should be saying, “I love you with all of my kidneys.”
She also said, “If you’re going to sin, sin BOLDLY”
That would be appropriate when applied to that dessert.
I, too, looked at the recipe David posted and I think I could manage that. Hmmmm…
Ms. Moon, former RN, BSN
Ms. Moon,
I like Glen even more (and I didn’t think that was possible).
So now the cure is making me sick. I sure hope I get the new dosage today and can have at this. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be sinning boldly all the time and saying fuck it.
I like beets, but have been certain I was dying a day or so after consuming them (if you get my drift).
I’ll take that plate of watermelon!
Kelly,
When she was first married, more than 50 years ago, SG’s sister had a beets experience. She was at the emergency room twice. Then she talked to her father (an EMT) and he asked if she had eaten anything differently recently. Oh, delicious beets from the garden!
The watermelon was perfect.
Love Salmorejo!
And I like beets. I don’t find them offensive at all!
And I’m glad you discover that the creatinine was the most likely culprit of feeling like shit.
XOXO
Sixpence Notthewiser,
I once had beet chips (like potato chips), the only beet thing I ever liked. If beets touch anything on my plate, the plate has to be cleaned and the contaminated items removed. Thats how much I hate beets.
Happy for the good news re protein numbers. The creatinine will sort itself out/stay positive.
I love beets too. But by themselves/not in other foods. My mom used to bake a chocolate cake WITH BEETS! I didn’t work for me.
Thank the gods for watermelon!
Jim,
Oh, the idea of infecting chocolate with beets! And this watermelon was perfection.
I tried eggplant for the first time just a couple of months ago and found, to my surprise (because vegetables tend to disappoint me, to say the least,) that I liked it
Kirk,
I’m surprised you liked the eggplant. So many people hate it. Good for you!
I can never thank you enough for teaching me how to say “with frickin’ beets” in Spanish! 🇪🇸🇪🇸
Wickedhamster,
In most cases, a little puta before any noun works fine.
Beetroot is supposed to be good for you – it lowers blood pressure apparently. I can tolerate the stuff if it is properly pickled in strong vinegar, but never just boiled as a vegetable! (And certainly never as a soup.)
Jx
PS I used to use beetroot vinegar instead of the ordinary stuff as a “secret ingredient” in chilli con carne; it enhances the colour of the dish, especially the kidney beans, as well as the flavour.
Jon:
I had something made with beetroot vinegar a while back. I wasn’t told. Something tasted off to me and I ate very little. There’s just something about it I can’t tolerate.
I love BEETS. What about beet ice cream? I’m like Mikey, I will eat anything.
Larrymuffin,
Debra She Who Seeks says beet root ice cream tastes like beets. No thanks.