Oh yes, the 'taste' part

The previous post makes it sound a bit like I'm at death's door. That would seem not to be the case (though I wasn't so sure on Monday night!). I feel pretty normal, and this whole bizarre situation doesn't really seem to be happening. It must be real, as a 'pre dialysis nurse' spent half an hour on the phone with me this afternoon telling me my latest blood test results and asking me to come in tomorrow morning. Apparently they want to do an MRI scan which involves ingesting some sort of dye, to investigate some unknown dark spot that appeared in the ultrasound scans last time. This dye will let them see my kidneys in much more detail, but may have the side effect of finishing them off once and for all, so I may need to stay there and start dialysis straight away. Is a bit of a pain, since my SO and I were planning to head for the French Alps this weekend for some winter sports.

The main thing that does make me feel like my body isn't the one I've got so familiar with over the last 38 years is the fact that things taste really strange. It seems to get worse as the day goes on - by evening, things have a decidedly 'off' taste. The worst thing is probably that alcohol just isn't an attractive prospect anymore. I've been to the pub after choir rehearsals recently, and not been able to face drinking a pint of beer. At first I put it down to the Sam Smiths brew in the choir local - but it would seem that this is a well known effect of kidney failure. I was in Momo the other night, and couldn't drink more than a sip of Chateau Musar, one of my favourite wines. It's the same with all kinds of food. I also went through a phase a couple months ago, where my SO developed a very strange taste - I was beginning to think I was developing some kind of allergy to her. Luckily that seems to have disappeared.

All this can only be good for my wasteline :)