My husband was diagnosed with stage 3 COD 4 years ago but no one ever mentioned diet...they just said no nsaids for body pains...hasn't had any blood tests on over a year but won't listen when I suggest them. Also put on a couple of stone this year...don't know what to do next.
Had a tummy big a couple of years ago and ended up in hospital with sepsis so am trying desperately to keep covid away from the house.
That’s because drs don’t study nuitrition at Med school. If you don’t believe me ask your dr. I come from a family of drs. Also many people want a quick fix” medicine” which fixes one thing and ruins another.Look good that is good for kidney desease stage 3 up. Watch Dadvice on U tube , he’s an inspiration & lots of help. He’s a kidney patient
Men don’t listen to women, believe me it’s a macho thing . Should have a blood test every two. Weeks most every month .!! How does he know what his gift , red blood cells , cretanine , Utica acid levels . Men !!!
Hi Jane, It can be very frustrated trying to make someone who does not want to take care of themselves do so. You are not going to be successful. You can try to be threatening, but that can back fire. Until your husband embraces where he is in his health, the only thing you can do is be mindful of what you put in your house. I know of what I speak as my husband sabotages his diet all the time. He has diabetes and heart issues. I can prepare a healthy dinner only to find out that after I have gone to bed, he is eating peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon at midnight. I have removed most junk and bad snack items from the house. Once he had snuck a box of sugary cereal in and was eating out of the box in in his study. His father did the same thing, although his dad was thinner. They both had diabetes and his dad died of kidney failure.
While I am on a very restricted diet, I do cook healthy for him. It is a pain in the butt because I am often making two different meals. It took YEARS for me to get him to eat just a salad for dinner, but he does now. But he still adds tons of high calorie dressing. I do not eat meat, so I will fix a chop or burgers for him. He eats some of the veggies I fix. It took me 18 years to get him to eat broccoli. He does now if he puts spray butter on it or it is in my Asian cooking.
He was walking and I got him a smart watch that records his steps. He does like that.
You can educate yourself about diet for kidney function. There is a ton of information out there on it. You can try to introduce him to meals that are better for him, if you do the cooking. Try to keep away from processed foods, especially those that are high in additives and sodium. Get him to cut down on meat if he eats a lot of red meat.
His doctor should be your ally. If he is not getting him in for blood tests regularly, then he is at fault. He should also be having a frank conversation with him about his health.
The main thing about CKD is that it is progressive decline. If he does not watch his diet and gets some exercise, he will go down that slide. Gaining weight is counter productive. I know as I put on a lot of weight the years before I went to stage 4. Once I changed my diet and lost some weight, I slowed down the progression.
Does he have other issues such as diabetes or high blood pressure? Those need to be kept in check. Very important.
Ask you doctor for a referral to a nephrologist and a renal dietician. If your husband does not go or want to be part of this, then the next conversation might be with a lawyer to draw up his will to protect you.
For you, try to find support either with family members and friends. They may be able to reach him when you can't. You might sit down with him and have an open conversation about your feelings and ask him what it will take for him to care about his health. Its funny but my husband gets all over his adult daughter who does not watch her diet at all. Its really hard to watch ignorance and stubbornness ruin our love one's health. But it so very common. We are here for you. Ask questions and we are great about giving advice.
Jane, I'm a dude, 68 with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) stage 5. I had a family history of PKD, and was diagnosed myself in 2008. But the Nephrologist I went to from 2008 to 2020 never once suggested a change in diet. I remember asking him if I needed to do anything different, he didn't have anything to offer. I should've taken that as a warning sign, but instead I took it as a "He thinks I'm screwed no matter what I do", so what the heck. Then in January 2020, once my eGFR got to 19, I saw a little flyer posted on the bulletin board in his waiting room about a dialysis "counselor" who offered a free "class" at Fresenius. I signed up. It was in that class that I found out all the stuff I had been eating that I should've stopped eating years earlier. I asked about seing a dietician. She said the dietitians were for dialysis patients only.
So in my itty bitty town in the USA, the educational support from doctors and everyone else is pretty much nil until you get on dialysis and then you get all kinds of support.
Once I finished that little free class, I found this site and got most of my education here. That has allowed me to prolong dialysis for over 2 years, and allowed me to visit Stonehenge and a small community in England, Fordham, where my last name originated. I'm very grateful to the folks on this site that helped me accomplish the goal of making that trip back in October.
So how about this. Give your husband my name and email. I'll be more than happy to offer some "thoughts", dude to dude (I do not give advice). My email is ronfordham@gmail.com. Like Bassetmommer said, all you can do is offer resources, it's up to him to use them or not.
Appearance of urine is scaring me - please help!
Slight improvement at late stage 4.
A few questions for the diabetics here that are on insulin. 
No diabetes or hypertension but GFR/Creatinine cratering
What does borderline mean?
