What Can Wash Away my Condition?

This happened when I followed my doctor’s advice

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

A year ago, my kidneys were working at just 60 percent, my lab results were a mess, and my doctor gave me a quiet but firm warning: “You’re heading for trouble.”

He sent me to a kidney specialist who said the same thing. Both of them told me I needed to drink at least two liters of water a day, every day.

Well, I was not going to give up coffee; that was non-negotiable. Even so, I took the advice seriously and started chugging water — and lots of it.

I carried a bottle of water all the time, and before long, taking a sip of water every few minutes became a habit.

It wasn’t an intentional decision; stopping soda pop just happened as I focused on water.

I had been drinking about one and a half 20-ounce bottles of soda pop every day. That alone cut 450 or so calories a day from my diet, as well as a lot of sugar and other suspicious-sounding substances.

I also started walking four miles a day instead of two. That had something to do with my turnaround, I’m sure, but I was already doing two miles a day with those bad numbers.

I was feeling a little better physically, and I was urinating more. Before that, I was going twice a day, and I…