Woke up around 5:30 a.m. with a terrible headache, so I washed my hair-something I often do now if I wake early with a bad headache, because I might as well take care of something I can do in that state, right?-and now I'm still only mostly awake, waiting for my head to feel better, so I thought I'd write about yesterday's appointment with the new ( Read more... )

I had blood drawn yesterday, and my doctor immediately emailed me upon receiving the results, because the kidney numbers aren't very good. Creatinine=1.51, eGFR=42. She urged me to consult with my nephrologist. I don't currently have one, of course, but I'll be meeting with the new one on May 7th ( Read more... )

I got new lab results from my blood draw on 3/13/14. My doctor's office now participates in the Sutter Health Online program, which allows me to look up my lab results online pretty much as soon as the doctor has them, which TOTALLY rocks ( Read more... )

Lab Result Timeline (for phone convo with nephrologist 2/3/14)
8/30/10: creatinine 1.19 (a little high), eGFR 50 (low ( Read more... )

I'll be talking on the phone with the nephrologist on Tuesday, so I'm trying to come up with some clear, concise questions that I absolutely will not let her get away with not answering. She isn't great (understatement) about actually answering my questions, so I need to come up with a plan for how to deal with this communication problem in the ( Read more... )

I've been having increasingly frequent (and increasingly severe) nausea again the last 2 or 3 weeks. I've also been feeling exhausted with increasing frequency and severity ( Read more... )

I received my lab results from my 2/7/14 blood draw, and ... drum roll, please ... they are back to the numbers we saw in August! WTF?

creatinine: 1.36
eGFR: 48BUN: 13 ( Read more... )

I finally got my latest blood draw yesterday. The nephrologist or her office never sent the lab order, so I finally had to call them up & make them fax it to the lab.

So the blood has been drawn & I can stop analyzing the sodium content of every morsel of food I eat. I can eat whatever I want! I can eat raw baby carrots & not feel like I'm taking up ( Read more... )

Talked to my meds doc today, and he said that I should be looking at the BUN (blood urea nitrogen) in my lab results, in addition to the creatinine, GFR, and sodium levels. He says that the BUN is a good measure of dehydration, and that the creatinine level should be considered in relation to it, rather than by itself ( Read more... )

I think I might need to get a different nephrologist when my insurance changes on March 1, because my current doctor and I seem to have significant communication problems. We finally spoke on the phone today, and I ended the conversation feeling frustrated and confused ( Read more... )