So why ORANGES?

So, I admit it. "Lusting After Oranges" is a strange name for a blog about renal failure.

Or is it?

If you have ever lived with, know, or are even remotely acquainted with renal failure, you may already know that potassium is one of the things that has to be limited drastically in the diet of a renal patient. Food contains potassium. Its just a part of life. Admittedly, some foods are higher in potassium than others. Leafy greens, fruit, nuts, legumes are all high potassium foods.

Oranges are one of my favorite foods. I LOVE oranges. I haven't really been able to enjoy them for a while now, because they contain more potassium than I'm really able to have in the course of a day's eating. Or at least they contain more than I can justify spending on one food.

For me, oranges have come to symbolize something that I lost. When I was little, my mother would put a huge naval orange in our stockings at Christmas time, and tell us stories of how when she was little, that was the only orange she'd have all year. She'd always be so happy remembering her own childhood oranges.

When I was 10, after I'd been diagnosed with diabetes, that was the first time I noticed that my life had truly changed. There was no orange that Christmas. My mom told me that the nutritionist told her it wasn't a good idea for me to have that much natural sugar (this was back int he dark days of diabetic nutrition when all sugar was kept away).

Then time passed, and research came out showing that it was okay for diabetics to eat oranges. I was the happiest camper on the block!!

I can't eat oranges any more, and sometimes, I look at them in the grocery store the way a starving animal looks at prey. I want a freaking orange.

If all goes well, maybe someday I'll be able to eat one every day.