K's Kolumn ...

The year 2025 has brought some new and interesting news. One thing I wanted to talk about is malnutrition. The first thing is that malnutrition isn’t as bad as it is made out to be. Don’t get me wrong, it is a problem, but nearly two-thirds of our country's population suffers from malnutrition.

What is malnutrition? It is the lack of proper nutrition, caused by (1) not having enough to eat, (2) not eating enough of the right things, or (3) being unable to use the food that one does eat. I suffer from all three aspects, and let me tell you, it sucks!

Not having enough to eat for me means not being able to keep things in my stomach that I do try to eat. When I eat, things either come out through my colostomy too quickly, or sit in my stomach for an extended period of time. Either way, my body does not absorb the nutrients I need.

Not eating enough of the right things also leads to not having the correct levels of vitamins and minerals in the body. My main problem is that I have a deficiency in almost everything, at least according to my nutrition doctor. The one thing that I seem to have the biggest problem regulating is my magnesium, seeing that it is one of the major minerals in the body. Magnesium can help improve your mood, sleep, exercise performance, blood sugar regulation, and more.

Thirdly, not being able to use the food that one does eat is a huge problem. The Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) that I am prescribed is where I get most of my nutrition. It is fused intravenously or IV nutrition. This is a medical procedure where all necessary nutrients are provided directly into the bloodstream through a catheter, bypassing the digestive system. TPN is used when a patient is unable to consume or absorb nutrients through the mouth or gastrointestinal tract. You can find more about TPN on my Facebook post from last November.

Another issue I have developed started in December, when I had my monthly colonoscopy and endoscopy. The biopsies that my doctor took showed I was having some rejection issues, so when my transplant doctor saw the results he started me on a tapered high dosage of steroids. This seemed to help me overcome the rejection issues; however, as with most medicines there are side effects.

A week or so after I finished the extended round I began having problems with my vision, things became cloudy/milky. I made an appointment with my eye doctor and was told that I had developed cataracts, called posterior subcapsular cataracts (PSC). This is a fast-growing opacity in the rear of the natural lens. PSC symptoms can develop over a few months or even within weeks. They include light sensitivity, glare and decreased vision, especially up close.

These cataracts cause a small, cloudy area to form underneath the eye’s lens. While cataracts are a known side effect for some people when taking steroids, they’re highly treatable.