Foodie problems

Hello and welcome!

I understand where you are coming from. I work for a large restaurant company and while my job is in the IT department, there is plenty of opportunity to be around food. Plus, DH and I love trying new restaurants and cuisines.

One of the things that helped me was changing from in-center dialysis to home hemo. Home hemo (5x per week, 3 hours per treatment was my plan) allowed me to have more flexibility with my food choices. I have read reports of the same for people on PD. In-center dialysis, due to the nature of the 3x per week treatments, will naturally require a stricter adherence to the renal diet.

Another thing that helped me was figuring out what I could eliminate from my diet and not miss vs. what I ate less of and still included. For example, when I was on dialysis, I never ate bananas or oranges to avoid those potassium sources and didn't miss them. But I still had potatoes and tomatoes in moderation. Your lab work will be your guide.

My biggest gripe when I was on dialysis was the restrictive nature of most dietitians. I understand that they have to cater to the masses and it's easier to give a blanket "no" than to understand that every person is different. My dietitian was furious that I ate potatoes but my potassium was always perfectly in range. You may end up having a row with your dietitian (I had more than one, that's for sure) so I am hoping that yours is more reasonable than mine was.