Throughout my childhood I had a rather odd fear of using public restrooms and bathrooms in unfamiliar houses. I would stay over at a friend’s house and would refrain from drinking anything in a bid to stop myself from having to visit the toilet. This fear continued into my teenage years where I would go 13 hours at a music festival without even going near the portaloos. My parents had no idea I wasn’t using the bathroom and only one person ever showed any real concern for my inability to empty my bladder so I never really thought anything of it.
It wasn’t until a few days before my 20th birthday that I realised I may have caused some damage to myself. I ended up hospitalised with kidney stones on New Year’s Day and as a result, decided to increase my liquid intake. I wasn’t actually told by the hospital the causes of kidney stones or even how to avoid them again so I had to rely on the internet and my own misinformed brain. I thought increasing the amount I drank to what can only be considered a normal daily liquid intake would help but I was still refusing to go to the toilet when I really needed to.
Now at present day, I’m currently battling another bout of kidney stones and although they have yet to reach the inevitable unbearable pain stage, I know fine well these stones are a bit more significant than the last ones.
This time around, I picked up on the fact there was clearly an issue with my kidneys so I visited the doctor who ran the ever lovely urine test. A significant amount of blood (too much information, sorry yo) showed up in my sample and he immediately diagnosed me with kidney stones. I assumed it was a kidney infection so was rather surprised when he told me the dreaded things had returned and was even more surprised when he chose to refer me for scans.
I’m not entirely clued up on the scans but I know what it is they’re looking for and although I’ve done my best to ignore it, I think it’s about time I face up to the fact I’ve really caused some damage to myself. I’ve had issues with my kidneys for quite some time and although my mum took me to the doctors as a kid, they told me nothing was wrong. As it turns out, there was something wrong and it’s been building up for a long time.
My only option at this point is to drastically overhaul my diet in hopes that it will have a positive effect. I’m not expecting miracles, I know fine well that I have one damaged kidney and it’s completely irreversible but I’m hoping it will do something. The salty treats, sugary snacks and fizzy drinks are going to have to be cut down on significantly and fizzy drinks may as well be cut out altogether. I’ve already rid myself of alcohol at this point but that was the easy part. Removing fizzy drinks is going to be the hardest especially when I crave them so often. I’ll need to find a substitute that I won’t get bored of and that’s actually good for me.
I really regret all of the times I never accepted a glass of juice at someone’s house and all the years when I would walk home from T in the Park with a horrendously full bladder. If I had known the level of pain and discomfort as well as all of the inconvenience it would cause, I would’ve drank everything like a fish and would have never left the bathroom.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt though, it’s how atrociously stupid we all are when we hold our bladders for the sake of convenience. If you need to relieve yourself regardless of where you are (although I hope you don’t just drop and squat in a public place) then I urge you to do it. If you ever feel thirsty but decide you can’t be bothered getting a drink then please get off of your butt and down a glass of water.
They both seem like such little, inconvenient things that we have to do but trust me, if you do them you could stop yourself from having to deal with a whole mass of problems. Going to the toilet 3-4 times a day is much better and easier than going 15 times after all.
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