Within a span of 6 weeks I’ve had two kidney stones and while this may seem disturbing on some levels, I’m trying to look at the bright side in hoping that by getting rid of these little beasties in short time I can live a normal life without the fear of dealing with them again…EVER.

Now how do I accomplish that? The approach I took following my last bout seemed fair in that I would drink lots of water, eat healthy, and only indulge once a week. It started off well enough as I was scared straight, but soon got lazy in drinking maybe a little less water than I should and sneaking a cookie or two when I found myself late at work. On our trip to Korea, I threw caution to the wind in having fried chicken, beef, Oreos, and Twix all while M watched with a wary eye.

“I’m good for it, I’ve already given up so much to begin with.”

“C’mon we’re on vacation.”

“Honey we can’t get Twix in Japan!”

And so on…as are merely my best excuses, but really I needed a solution, not just an easy answer.

The simplest solution though seemed the most painful…Vegetarianism

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of mistreating animals, but I’d be lying if I didn’t think I found some tastier than others. So this isn’t a political or moral stance, this is simply my way of hoping to live a long and fruitful life.

Right now M is simply giddy at the prospect of feeding me shrimp, salmon, tuna, fruits, veggies, and tofu.

Initially she proposed that I could have one weekly treat, but I know I need strict self-discipline. At this point I’m well over a week and looking to keep going. Oddly enough it gets easier by the day as I actually look and feel better. From time to time I get a little bummed when I pass by certain eating establishments, but I’m learning to find alternatives that in some cases I really enjoy. Finding myself in Asia at this time helps as portions are sensible and cuisines here tend to place an emphasis on flavors that make vegetables and tofu come to life.

Yes, I’ve lost my mind, but at the end of the day it really beats the alternative of writhing in pain on the floor.

M says: This isn’t because I’m a sadist (which I guess could be argued). It is actually because his doctor gave us a sheet saying the following things cause the types of stones T gets: Meat, Chocolate, Milk.

You’ll also note we’ve switched to soy milk weeks ago and he actually really likes it. So bust out the Birkenstock’s we’ve got a convert!