I have One Kidney...

[RebeccaMara]

I am 45 years old and only have one kidney. My Right kidney was removed due to a birth defect when I was 2 months old. I was very sick as a child, on daily Septra until about age 13 (off and on). I had chronic kidney and bladder infections. For some reason at around age 13 I was just fine....not sick anymore. I went on to have 3 kids (which went against what the docs always told me) and have been relatively healthy (at least regarding my kidney). I am overweight and haven't taken the best care of myself the last couple years. I had labs done the other day and my urea nitrogen is 25, my BUN is 33.8. My doc wants to send me to a nephrologist to get a full work up...but she thinks this is reversible.

[lowraind]

Not sure if you have questions, or how we can help you. Is there something specific? I know it is a difficult thing to deal with, but once you have a full work up, you will be powerful and able to take action to learn more and to help yourself.

[RebeccaMara in reply to lowraind]

I do have questions I guess...as I process lol. I have been so healthy since age 13 I think I never thought I would have issues. Funny how we feel immortal when we are young. Anyways, I'm trying to understand how serious my numbers are and if it is reversible with nutrition...

[lowraind in reply to RebeccaMara]

Once you have the workup, you will know more about your numbers. I noticed you did not list GFR and Creatinine levels. When I was diagnosed with ckd and told nothing except stop taking Celebrex and take my blood pressure every day, I spent many hours researching all that I could find out about kidney disease. I immediately stopped eating chocolate, dairy, lunch meats, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, started drinking more water. My original GFR was 36.6 in November. In February, it was 54.0. Originally, my Creatinine was 1.4; it went down to 1.0. We will see what happens in July. I am a firm believer in positive action, and I have seen good results. From my own research and from my own results, I do think it is reversible.

[RebeccaMara in reply to lowraind]

Thank you! My GFR is actually 85 which I know is pretty good. I know a lot about nutrition and have already "gotten back on the wagon" so to speak. I do believe in the power of nutrition for sure. Thanks for your feedback...I appreciate it.

[lowraind in reply to RebeccaMara]

You are welcome! One area I radically disagree with the so-called experts is that we can do much to prevent our ever getting to stage 3 or 4. If we know that sodium, potassium, phosphorous, protein will eventually cause damage to our kidney, if we do something now, to limit what we are eating, we may never get to stages 4 or 5. That is my hope!

[RebeccaMara in reply to lowraind]

I 100% agree and believe in the power of nutrition!

[KelliC_NKF in reply to RebeccaMara]

A GFR of 85 is great! It's wonderful that you will have additional testing and follow up, so they can understand the full picture. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy body weight will help protect your kidneys and also improve your overall health! Avoiding potassium and phosphorus at the is point would not be necessary or helpful in protecting your kidneys, but a low salt diet with fresh produce instead of processed foods is a great start! Many doctors recommend the DASH diet which you can learn more about here: kidney.org/atoz/content/Das...