Addiction

I am addicted to iced tea...seriously addicted. At one point in my life I drank it morning noon and night, almost a gallon a day. I love it. It's not just the caffeine, it's the taste. I love it!!! My iced tea of choice is the Swiss Farms brand with Wawa coming in a close second.

Last December I had a horrific experience with Kidney Stones. I'll spare you most of the details but lets just say the excruciating pain, two ER visits, a 4 day hospital stay with surgery at the end and a 3 week recovery was brutal. I was told that my experience was much worst than most other kidney stone sufferers. After a battery of tests I was told that my stones were being produced by Oxalate, which is a substance found in...tea leaves!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! It can't be possible!!! My #1 ingested beverage has caused this hell!!! What am I going to do. My Dr. told me that I needed to stop drinking iced tea. He quickly realized (by the look on my face) that this was not going to go over well. In the end he told me to reduce the amount I drink significantly. I'll admit that it was a little easier to swallow (no pun intended) knowing that I could still have some each day, just not 6 glasses.

8 months later and my confession to you is that I have not done so well in the weening off process. How is this going to be possible!?! I love it! It would seem that quitting anything could be easier than this. I crave the taste. I have to have it!

The past few days I haven't been feeling so well, run down, tired, and I've had some pain in my back. Instantly fear starts welling up inside me. Could this be happening again? Is this the beginning of a month of torture? Just the thought that it could be another stone has me feeling sick! It's then that I start bargaining with God. If this isn't what I think it is I promise I'll never drink iced tea again! How ridiculous is that. I know that God is not one to be bargained with and on top of that He's gracious enough that he could heal me no matter what I do in return.

Today I'm feeling ok. Energy level is a bit higher, my back still feels weird but the pain is on both sides now meaning that it would not be a stone. It's probably just another case of being a human barometer which is not surprising due to the large amount of extreme weather we've been having this week.

The sad part, I type this as I drink a large glass of...iced tea! What is wrong with me, why is this so hard to give up! I think I need a 12 step program!!!