Mom's Visit to the Renal Doctor

A while back, Mom's rheumatologist did routine lab, and it showed Mom was anemic. She didn't know why, and she suggested we check with the oncologist. Her office faxed the lab results, but the oncologist never responded, so we visited Mom's PCP. She did more labs, and they came back with wacky levels, so she made an appointment for us with a nephrologist at UAMS.

Today we saw a Dr. Shukla. First off, let me say his staff was extremely pleasant and polite. That in itself is unusual. We didn't have to wait long at all for the doctor to come into the exam room. Another nice thing. He was very personable, young, friendly and fun. He read her chart and looked at the faxed labs, before he came to speak with us. I can't say I've ever experienced that with a doctor. Anytime we've/I've been to see a new doctor, they haven't looked at the chart until they enter the exam room. Another point to Dr. S.

He told us that Mom has level three kidney disease. The anemia was an indicator, and she has half the normal kidney function. He was not terribly concerned at this point. But he scheduled an ultrasound of her kidneys and drew more labs and will see what the results of those two are, before deciding how to treat. He told us there are five levels, and she is middle of the road.

I looked online for information and found the first two levels have no real symptoms and are not treated. He also mentioned that to us. Level four begins dialysis. Level five is kidney failure. We are not going to borrow trouble right now, and take it as it comes. He did tell her to discontinue any pain med other than tylenol. The anti-inflammatory meds and pain meds are not good for kidneys and are a real no-no for kidney patients. That is good to know, considering I was born with only one kidney. So, I will try to stop any pain med I might take, and stick with the tylenol.

Her ultrasound is scheduled for November 30. She also has a regularly scheduled appointment with her oncologist for that day, so we will see what her opinion of it all is. I'll keep you posted.