HELP!

Denny1971

First, don’t panic, what are you basing your concerns on? What tests were preformed that would indicate kidney failure? You have not provided very much information. Are you saying this is your first follow up since April! After removal of one kidney, it is normal for Creatinine levels to be elevated. This is the most common test for kidney function with only one kidney, Creatinine levels of 2.0 to 2.5 or higher are not unusual, over time, 6 to 18 months, the remaining kidney will grow and pick up the additional load and Creatinine levels will drop to 1.4 to 1.6. Again this is absolutely normal, you can help the healing process by drinking lots of water at least 2 liters a day, remember to replace electrolytes some of the fluid can be Gatorade or some other electrolyte replacement drink. NO salt, No salt, did I mention no salt throw away the salt shakers and do not add salt to anything as much as possible buy reduced or no sodium foods, trust me you will get used to it. There are “no salt” spice collections that will add flavor “Mrs. Dash etc” You need to do everything possible to reduce the stress on the remaining kidney. That being said again are you having your first follow up since April!! Are you only being treated by a urologist .While I respect them they are not ONC’s and they do not generally pursue all of the possible long term treatments for RCC you need to be working with an ONC that is familiar with the sneaky attributes of RCC

Denny,

I had a radical nephrectomy in May '09 but the operation didn't go quite so well.  I lost 7 units of blood and this appears to have caused my other kidney to shut down.  I started dialysis in June.  Creatinine level went above 10.0 and it has slowly been decreasing -  it's currerntly at 5.0 now.  I'm looking forward to a full recovery of my remaining kidney and getting off dialysis but there is a possibility that I will reamin on dialysis indefinitely.

Let me know if you want more information.

Jeff

hello Denny,

 I was also suppose to have a radical nephrectomy last june 09 but had a change of heart a week before operation to undergo a paartial nephrectomy instead.  My friend read that if partial was possible, that it would be better than a radical nephrectomy.  I googled it and found out that a partial nephrectomy was abetter  alternative especially if the pt is younger than 65 because there is higher percentage of pt to suffer from other effect of having one kidney.  Since there will only be 1 kidney to do all the work, pt has higher chances of having hypertension or I guess kidney failure which has been the cause of death of pt rather than by the spread of cancer itself.  Since I am 42yrs old , I decided for a partial instead. I guess if you only have 1 kndney left, you should watch your diet, like minimize salt and avoid medicines which are nephrotoxic or damaging to the kidney. These may include regular medicines like ibuprofen or other pain killers.  I'm not really an authority in this area but I try to avoid them. 

 By the way, are there foods that your doctor told you to avoid since we have a cancer on remission.  My doctor told me to avoid eating meat since cancer feeds on it and also sugar. How about you?

 Anyway, I just had my lab works taken and haven't gotten the result yet.  I hope everything turns out fine for both of us.  By the way, I had an infection just this week and had blood in my urine again.  I was afraid that IT had return but doc said it was just infection.  I hope things are really ok.

Thankk you for sharing.