Trek BBS Kidney Klub: Kidney Issue People ONLY! ;)

[AriesIV]

So a forum of this size is bound to have a few people going through this.

I'm in my mid 30s. Had some curious health issues crop up recently. Typical treatments didn't do any good and I got worse... and worse... then lost my job (almost).

Went to the ER with severe gastric distress. Turns out I was on the verge of Even More Serious Problems Including Death. My left kidney is virtually "stopped" and the right one is operating at sub-sub optimal levels.

Several days of testing poking prodding and a brief trip to dialysis I'm Less Likely To Suddenly Die as I was when I checked in.

In my situation I am almost 100% certain it's due to my choice of career: I deal with chemicals all day every day. More than likely something I handled at some point caused this.

They tell me that I am improving to the point where with a controlled diet and medication I should be "ok".. However 3-5 years down the road I will "likely" need a transplant.

...wow.


Anyway! Any other Kidney Klub members out there? Thoughts? Comments? Tips for living with sharply reduced kidney function? For example my "rant" about tasteless food: Living without salt is going to take some getting used to! And NO CAFFEINE or ALCOHOL? Woo might as well just become Mormon!

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I get the odd kidney stone in the left Kidney every few years, why always the left i have no idea, luckily all have passed within a few weeks via going to the bathroom(did i actually say Luckily), and have only had to go the hospital once at night when i had no extra strong painkillers and was doubled over in pain.

As for salt i never use it at myself, i actually like to taste my food as it come out of the pot and not cover it with added salt.

Only a minor kidney issue though, just one of the joys of aging.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I know your pain, assuming it's the pain of a stone stuck in the ureter.

I had one stuck there for 3 days. Unbelievable pain for sure.

I didn't even know what it as at first, the pain kept intensifying until I finally went to the ER.

3 shots of some kind of narcotic and I could still feel it, but much less so.

I drank so much water I didn't even feel it when it "passed", and that's what always gets talked about.

I've kept on drinking a lot of water every day and over 6 years later, no repeat.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

^^^Your avatar is basically what it was like when it passed....but only more painful.

But I'm glad you have not had any more, i will also have to try and drink more water, daily fluids wise i always seem to fall into just my cups of tea and my occasional glass of Iron Bru(soft drink)....certainly not getting enough plain water daily.

 

[Dart]

As a child I had a scan over a kidney infection, it showed I have 3 kidneys. On one side there's 2 back to back.

A lot of people might have this and never know. It's no health issue.

 

[AriesIV]

Ah yeah these are all serious but I was looking for other "long term" folks like me.


Never had a stone that I know of... They tell me "yeah you would KNOW."

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Ah yeah these are all serious but I was looking for other "long term" folks like me.

I've worked in a renal unit before. Does that count?

 

[B.J.]

I've also had kidney stones. And in my case, it definitely qualifies as "long term", since from the late '90s to about 2009 I managed to get one just about every 3 months. I lost count at "dozens". Thankfully, most passed without too much problem, but every once in a while one of them would cause enough pain to send me to the ER. I'm also thankful that they never had to "retrieve" any stones, and they all passed on their own, but I could really do without the extreme searing pain. I have a prescription for Hydrocodone/APAP that I take with me everywhere just in case, but even that hardly puts a dent in the worst ones.

I haven't had one that I've noticed since late 2009 (*knock on wood*), and hopefully it will stay that way. They started without warning or any real cause, so I'm hoping that whatever did cause them has gone.

 

[AriesIV]

Ah yeah these are all serious but I was looking for other "long term" folks like me.

I've worked in a renal unit before. Does that count?

Absolutely!

Were you by chance in charge of sucking all of the FLAVOR out of the food?

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Ah yeah these are all serious but I was looking for other "long term" folks like me.

I've worked in a renal unit before. Does that count?

Absolutely!

Were you by chance in charge of sucking all of the FLAVOR out of the food?

[belch]

 

[AriesIV]

*laughing*

I get out later this week. They'll have me on a diuretic pill and they have instructed me to continue to drink water until there is no more drinkable water within reach... and of course the sodium restriction diet.


Should prove an interesting challenge. Don't know how the employer is going to react to ten thousand and one piss-breaks a day...

 

[SmoothieX]

Hang in there folks...I need to start a liver club thread.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Hang in there folks...I need to start a liver club thread.

Hey, I've worked in a liver unit too!

 

[AriesIV]

Hang in there folks...I need to start a liver club thread.

Maybe we should start a general "Organ Failure" club instead.

 

[AriesIV]

Hang in there folks...I need to start a liver club thread.

Hey, I've worked in a liver unit too!

I'm starting to see the pattern here. I knew this TrekBBS Medical Plan was too good to be true.

 

[Dr. Chandra]

I gave my younger brother a kidney 5 years ago after lupus caused his to fail. As a result, I have to monitor and control my blood pressure (with meds, right now). Also, I have to avoid NSAIDs (aspirin, Advil Motrin, etc.), in favor of Tylenol and other acetaminophens that don't adversely affect the kidney.

 

[thestrangequark]

^As a type 1 diabetic my kidneys are at greater risk than most people's, and should anything ever happen, my little sister (my only full-blood sibling) has already promised me one of hers. Hopefully for both our sakes it'll never come to that, but it's good to know there are such wonderful, loving, and selfless people out there as you and her.

 

[AriesIV]

Yeah that is neat. I have brothers and sisters so I suppose I could "borrow" one...

On the other hand medical SCIENCE!! is progressing maybe they can repair what I have eventually. THAT would be cool.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Hang in there folks...I need to start a liver club thread.

Maybe we should start a general "Organ Failure" club instead.

Or an "accelerated entropy" thread at least.

 

[AriesIV]

Maybe some kind of exchange program as well... goal being to piece together as many functional members as we can using whatever parts we have laying around.