Sheryl

When I was pregnant with my fourth and last baby, the ultrasound technician slipped the scanning tool up to my kidneys and found several cysts. In this day and age I went right to the computer to get on the internet.

I was told I had multiple cysts on each kidney. It didn't take me long to narrow the ultrasound report down to PKD. My OBGYN didn't want to alarm me and said we couldn't be sure. He wanted me to see a nephrologist after I delivered the baby.

I was twenty weeks pregnant and had a possible twenty more to go. I'm not one to sit around and suffer. I started with the logical Google search "natural cure for polycystic kidney disease." In the past I've had great success with the ole "natural cure for.." type of search.

Surely something natural would cure this demon disease. Not so. I did discover that kidney cysts are filled with nanobacteria, which is only eradicated by potassium citrate or tetracycline with a chelating treatment. The nanobacteria have a wicked little calcium shell around them making them impervious to normal antibiotics. The problem was that the tetracycline was nasty on the system with prolonged use and it would take prolonged use. The other problem with the antibiotic route is I couldn't find any human testimonies that it was effective on PKD. But I had the magic words "Polycystic Kidney Disease" and "Potassium Citrate." I found the PKDiet.com website and a gold mine when I discovered the potassium citrate Tanner rat studies. Suddenly I viewed myself as a lab rat. If I took the potassium citrate I would live a full life span. I wanted nothing more than to be a Tanner rat. My doctor wouldn't give me potassium citrate while I was pregnant. I was hesitant to take it on my own, not knowing how it might affect my unborn baby. What to do?

In truth I had never thought about my kidneys or what they were for. I set out to learn exactly what kidneys did for me. My study brought me to acid and the elimination of it. That brought me to alkaline. It made sense if your kidneys were being hampered by numerous cysts to just use the kidneys as little as possible. Like when I hurt my leg and I have to stay off of it until it heals. I still had no hope that the cysts would heal but I could at least give my kidneys a break. I studied the web site again and again.

My new goal in life was to create as little acid as possible in my body. I started buying almonds in bulk. I didn't like the crunch of some veggies so I started lightly steaming them. I tried various juice combinations in my juicer. I still can't do cabbage juice, but I can eat it lightly steamed. I found that potassium citrate was present in orange juice but that would slam my blood sugar so I didn't drink more than a few cups a day. I discovered spelt and started baking with it. I still had an intense craving for milk chocolate so I would eat chocolate chips with a handful of almonds to at least counter the acid a little. I tested my urine pH several times a day and kept it within the 7 to 8 range.

I delivered a healthy baby at 37 weeks and made my appointment with the neph. I had to wait another three months for the appointment. I noticed that my baby was different. She was around 6 lbs. 11 oz. when she was born but she grew three times as fast as my other children. While my other babies had runny noses this one never did. When she was four months old or so and still nursing, our whole family got a severe flu. However the baby and I only had a runny nose for a day or so. I began to see that it was true that an alkaline body wouldn't support illness.

When I finally saw the neph I told him I had PKD. He laughed and said that it was almost never diagnosed in someone as young as me, (I was 32). He scheduled a CT scan but sent me out the door assuring me I was PKD-free. I asked if he'd give me a prescription for potassium citrate. I told him about the Tanner rat studies. He balked at the information and said it couldn't be true. "Diet has no bearing on this."

He called a few days after my CT with the news that, yes, it was PKD. He asked me to come back in six months. That was it? Happy new disease, see you in six months. Somehow he was lacking a certain bedside manner that I desired. I went shopping for a new neph. Too many people don't do that. We feel captive by our medical community. We follow them, thinking they know best. I urge everyone to find a doctor you like. You're worth it. You deserve it.

I was lucky enough to charm a receptionist at the University of Utah, Division of Nephrology. I had an appointment with the head of Nephrology. I felt sure that this fellow would understand diet was important.

I told him about the nanobacteria and the potassium citrate studies. While I was getting dressed after the appointment he actually looked them up and came to my post check-up consultation armed with information about what I was trying to explain to him. He didn't give me a prescription for potassium citrate at that time. I still had some convincing to do. He did tell me that my CT from neph #1 showed that I had PLD, pneumonia, and a liver adenoma, (Oh did neph#1 forget to mention those little details?). By then the pneumonia was long gone, probably because I was alkaline.

For me the most memorable part of the appointment was when I asked how many cysts I had on my kidneys and he said, "Innumerable, too many to count." I let it digest while we sat in silence. My disease means something different to me than it might to other people. I was in a car crash when I was nineteen. By all rights I shouldn't be alive. I face this disease with gratitude that I'm even here to have it. I've had another fifteen years, married a great man, and given birth to four wonderful children. I would have missed it all if I would have died that night. Knowing that I have been living on borrowed time anyway and having faith that the Tanner studies actually meant something, I smiled at my doctor. My happiness alarmed him. He set about making sure I knew the disease would progress to worse stages. The cysts would grow. I had a high likelihood of heart problems, dialysis, and transplant necessity looking at me in the future. Did I? I still smiled. The rats lived. And even if all he said was true, I was on borrowed time that I had been cherishing with abundant gratitude for many years. The only difference between me and anyone else was that I knew what I would die from and they didn't.

I was sent to the liver doctor. Usually PKDr's avoid MRIs but I was to be MRI scanned many times to baby sit my possible liver tumor. I hated the MRIs but in the end I'm grateful, they've done the world some good. As long as I was there why not look at the kidneys too?

My next neph appointment scored potassium citrate. He had studied the Tanner studies while I was away. He didn't know what good it would do but he humored me. My life became much easier. I added more breads into my diet and used my urine pH to monitor my intake of potassium citrate. The neph used blood tests to make sure my body could handle the potassium. I still don't eat very much junk food. I consume almost no meat. I keep dairy to a minimum. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

Judith Tanner, yes, my hero, the rat studier divine, I wrote her about my MRI's and my experience with potassium citrate and PKD. Suddenly my MRIs became invaluable. Many PKDrs can be studied on ultrasounds but the MRIs were precise. I knew that they were showing a cyst shrinking in my pancreas. I hoped they would show other cysts shrinking too. After careful study they did show that my growing, deadly, big hairy disease, wasn't growing at all. It has stopped.

I don't know if any kidney or liver cysts have shrunk. My liver specialist has written my liver adenoma off as possibly a simple cluster of abnormal blood cells. I don't have to go in for the semi annual or annual MRIs anymore. It was a pretty boring adenoma, but a big blessing for me. I think God put the adenoma there to provide proof that the potassium citrate is a good thing. The kicker is that the medical community wanted to see not only that the cysts had stopped growing but that they grew in the first place. Alas, I have no proof, other than their existence, that they ever grew there. The world is a funny place. I'm glad I'll be around to enjoy it for a nice, long time. Thank you, Diane, and thank you,
PKDiet.com

PKD Polycystic Kidney Disease Sheyl's ADPKD Story
We are  sharing our experiences with PLD Diet, an adjunct diet to consider  trying to complement a physician's prescribed medical therapy. Think  about testing this only with your doctor's prior knowledge, who can  adjust it, according to your own uniqueness by adding to your current  treatment.

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