Another Garden Safety Moment

Yesterday I attempted to do some gardening.  It was too hot for me.  Very upsetting!  I just had to write another post, geared towards gardening with Cystic Fibrosis.  You may or may not know, but people with Cystic Fibrosis lose a good deal of salt in their sweat.  I've never had huge problems with this throughout my life, but clearly I will have to be more safe.  Yesterday after just an hour or so out in the sun I was down for the count.  The rest of the day I had severe headaches, nausea, and other problems I won't go into here. 

A tip from the pamphlet, "Day-to-Day:  Exercise and Cystic Fibrosis" http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/LivingWithCF/StayingHealthy/LungHealth/Exercise/Day-to-Day-Exercise-and-CF.pdf

How’s the Weather?

With exercise, people with CF should be careful when it’s hot and humid. They don’t handle heat stress well.  More sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) or salt is lost in CF sweat, so drinking fluids is vital. Drink more fluids and choose fluids that maintain or replace Na+ and Cl- (electrolytes).  Many sports drinks have a certain level of electrolytes to best absorb ions and fluid from the stomach into the blood. For those with CF, the level should be slightly higher.

I didn't drink enough Gatorade.  I may need to add some more salt also.  The following quote is from the pamphlet, "Managing Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes “(CFRD)” http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/LivingWithCF/StayingHealthy/Diet/Diabetes/CFRD-Manual-4th-edition.pdf

Salt and Other Vitamins and Minerals

Whether they have CFRD or not, people with CF lose lots of salt each day in their sweat. This salt lost needs to be replaced by using extra table salt and eating salty foods. Salt can be added while cooking or at the table.  Convenience foods (snack items, canned and packaged foods, and processed meats and cheeses), condiments (ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, pickles, olives), and restaurant and fast foods are often high in salt, or sodium. You need at least 4,000 milligrams of sodium daily. One teaspoon of salt contains about 2,300 milligrams of sodium.  Check food labels for the sodium content to help you choose high-sodium foods.
Eating many types of foods from all of the food groups each day plus taking your multi-vitamin pills will help you get all the vitamins and minerals you need. Your dietitian can tell you which multi-vitamin is right for you.

I will check to see if I still need the same amount, being post-transplant, but I will go for that goal on the gardening days at least. 

Yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of some of the plants and flowers.  I got a really great shot of the yellow Celosia.  I love them! 

More to come!