Number one thing (number two)

Something that surprised me greatly on our arrival in British Columbia back in 2015 was the discovery that the province had a considerable shortage of GPs… doctors! For the first year and some I had to resort to visiting drop-in clinics to get repeat prescriptions for the hypertension medication to which I referred in my last post.

Fortunately a new clinic opened in Sidney and I was finally able to land myself on the books of an excellent physician who has the added benefit of being a relatively young man – who should thus (barring unfortunate incidents) see me out.

The good thing about young doctors is that they tend to be keen and thorough. That is also, of course, the problem with them… discovering things that one wishes they had not.

Several years back now my new doctor determined – in the course of my annual checkup – that I now had stage one chronic kidney disease. There is, apparently, nothing really to be done about this and it makes no practical difference – as long as it doesn’t develop into a higher stage (which I gather from the Doc that it may never do. Fingers crossed!) How did I get it? Apparently is is a common side-effect of hypertension!

Now – this year the doc had a new treat for me. I now have early signs of fatty liver disease. What?! How did I get that? Well – apparently if one is not overweight (which I wasn’t) and doesn’t have a drink problem (don’t even go there) then it is quite likely to be a side effect of – you’ve guessed it – hypertension.

Thanks, mum and dad!

So – what is to be done? Well – diet apparently – for which I have been referred to a nutritionist. According to him I need to be on a low-carb, low-sugar, preferably plant-based diet… and I should abstain from the demon booze!! Well – I can be pretty dogged if it leads to staying healthy for as long as possible and I don’t mind making some sacrifices, but there are limits…

So – out goes bread, white rice, all manner of sugary treats (including cakes and jams etc), too much red meat, processed foods… ice cream! All that sort of thing. In comes more fruit, salads and vegetables, lean and white meats, fish, pulses and no end of less fun things (like seeds… bleuch!!).

On the alcohol front, until this started I was in the habit of taking one drink a day with my evening meal, the which I had done ever since I left home back in the 1970s. Now I only drink on occasion – maybe one or two times a month (boo!).

Is it working – I hear you ask? Too soon to tell, though blood tests next month will give a clearer picture.

It is having one big effect, though: I have lost a fair bit of weight. Having clocked in at around 13 stone (182lb) for as long as I can remember, in the three or so months since this started my weight has dropped to a tad below 12 stone (168lb). As a result  I have had to purchase several new pairs of jeans, my waist having dropped from an optimistic 34” back to a guaranteed 32”. I really can’t remember when I was last this size, but it was certainly back in the 80s (or even earlier).

Oh well! I will of course keep the gentle reader up-dated as things progress.