I thought it might be interesting to give you a breakdown of how I make the best use of my single litre of daily liquid allowance, to show you both how much and how little that amount is. If you have any suggestions on how I could make better use of my fluid, I’d love to hear them!
Essentially, I track my daily consumption by filling a one litre water bottle with cold water early each morning. Then I remove the amount of water I’ve consumed from that bottle, either by sipping from the bottle, or by removing an equivalent amount if I’ve consumed liquid from an alternative source.
I want to stress that this is what works for me and may in no way resemble what others with a restricted liquid allocation may do. Everyone’s needs, preferences and health condition are unique and will impact on both how much fluid they are able to consume and the breakdown they use to suit their lifestyle.
Additionally, please note these figures are approximations, based on the best way I’ve been able to measure the amounts, bearing in mind my blindness.
1 Tea – approx. 540 mls.
It has long been a practise in our home to start the day with a cup of tea or coffee. Part of my early morning rituals is making a mug of coffee for Craig and a mug of tea for myself. In the past, we would follow that with a second mug soon afterwards. Now I limit myself to half a small mug of tea, either a Mauritian vanilla or a Five Roses. During the day I allow myself a single half-cup of green tea, usually flavoured with lemon/lime, plain lemon or apple. Then I finish off the day with a half mug of either green, jasmine, Japanese cherry blossom, berry or rooibos tea. I estimate that each serving is about 180 mls, giving me a total of 540 mls.
2 Tablets – approx. 120 mls.
My doctor reminded me that I’d need to save some of my liquid allowance to take all my necessary tablets during the day. If he hadn’t warned me, I probably wouldn’t have considered it. Unfortunately, I’m not someone who can take tablets without water, and was surprised when I measured how much of my daily liquid my tablets required. At least, if I am gifted a kidney, since I’ve already been warned about how many tablets I’ll be required to take, the amount of liquid I can consume will be far greater. In fact, from the research I’ve done, I will need to consume a substantial amount of fluid to keep the transplanted kidney well hydrated.
3 Food – approx. 200 mls.
I’d never given a thought to how much fluid there is in the food I eat. Every time I have a piece of fruit, a salad vegetable, yoghurt, and countless other food items, I’m also consuming some liquid. While I haven’t yet spoken to my renal dietician to learn how to measure the liquid in the food I have accurately, this is the closest approximation I can make, based on how juicy each item of food is. I realise I may be either over or underestimating the amount but considering how little fluid is being removed during dialysis at this stage, my sense is that this is a fairly accurate assessment. At least, it will do for the moment until I can learn how to track this aspect more effectively.
4 Sipping Water – approx. 150 mls.
The remainder of my water I sip on during the course of the day. Where I used to consume water by the glassful, now I can satisfy my thirst by simply having a few sips and relishing every precious drop.
These are the basic parametres within which I work. I obviously try to pour smaller mugs of tea to save a little water for any unforeseen need. I also juggle the amount I consume depending on what I’ll be eating in a day. As an example, on a cold day, when I’m craving a small bowl of piping hot thick vegetable soup, I’ll drop one of the cups of tea, try to minimise the juiciness of other food I eat that day, and hopefully manage to save enough to allow me that precious bowl. Likewise if I choose to have a small glass of wine with my supper, I manage my fluid during the remainder of the day, so I have enough for an indulgence.
Strangely enough, I haven’t found the single litre a difficult restriction to work with. Overall, I’m happy with the amount of liquid I’m consuming and seldom feel thirsty or dehydrated. There are even days that I pick up my water bottle and find I have more left there than I anticipated… and then my nighttime tea is a slightly fuller mug!
There you have it: my personal breakdown of how I’ve managed to limit myself to a single litre of fluid per day. Purely for interest for those who may be wondering.
Hi Lois – I am praynig your search for a kidney donor will be successful but in the meantime I am in awe of the grace, courage and generosity of your sharing of your journey navigating both this disease and all the peripheral aspects of your life that it touches – including life with Normandy. Your frankness, candour, and pragmatic explanation give such an insight to those who have no knowledge and must be a tremendous help to others (like a written down version of Carol!!) to newbies. I so admire how you manage to turn every adversity into a learning experience and something to share. It is a gift. Much love as ever.