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Nephrology letter

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:34 pm
by Susan2
Hi
I wonder if anyone can help me understand a letter I received . My urologist referred me to a Professor in Nephrology due to persistent gross hematuria. I had. Some tests and this is the result


Right kidney
Stones in lateral right lower pole lie in a diverticulum.
8mm stone lies within pyramidal portion .

Left Kidney
The left kidney is atrophic measuring only 8cm
Multilobulated appearence secondary to multiple areas of cortical scarring
Bilateral small hypodensities
There is no OPACIFICATION OF THE ENTIRE LEFT URETER .
Complex papilla in lower pole

An anyone explain this please

Sue xx

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:13 pm
by wagolynn
Hi Susan2,

You will get the best answer from your Urologist or your GP, you could try phoning your Urologist's secretary and ask if you can be contacted by phone or arrange an early appointment.

As I see it you have kidney stones in your right kidney, and your left kidney has been damaged by something.

Be warned I am only a kidney patient not a medic.

Best wishes.

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:45 pm
by Susan2
Hi Wagolynn

I am losing confidence in my urologist- he referred me to Nephrology because of persistent hematuria and he wanted to know if he had missed anything in his findings . The Nephrologist told me I have glomerulernephtitis but the urologist A’s never mentioned it once . I am so confused

Sue

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:28 pm
by wagolynn
Hi Sue,

It sounds to me as though you have an honest Urologist, medical people don't usually admit they are not sure.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong in looking for more information/knowledge, it's far better than chasing up a blind ally.

Diagnosing, is more an art then a science, early on there are many option, step by step some can be eliminated until finally there is only one left.

I would go ahead and ask for an interpretation of the letter, it's the same sort of thinking as above, if you don't know, ask.
Most consultants I have come across are happy to explain, one told me, if patients ask it shows they are interested, and actively trying to understand the illness, and the cure.
If the patient understands the cure, they are then more likely to follow any instructions etc.

Sorry for the sounding like a schoolmarm. :oops:

Best wishes.

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 12:17 pm
by Susan2
Thank you for the reply . I saw my urologist and he as decided to do a Nephrectomy due to the damage and the kidney function apparently is only 11% in the left kidney .

I also saw the renal nurse who gave me some advice . She also told me about this forum being informative and I told her I had tried here for information and that I had one reply . While I understand that not everyone can help or know what I am asking about and if you hadn’t answered @wagolynn I would be very anxious by now . It is a sad that even though my post generated nearly 100 views only one person tried to help .

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 3:04 pm
by wagolynn
Hi Sue,

The only other advise I can give, which is really a variation on what I said previously, 'try not to leave your medics without fully understanding what they are telling you'.

Yes I understand, we don't like to be a nuisance but not understanding leaves you/us with worry.

Worry never cured anything nor solved any problems.

Best wishes.

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:56 pm
by bigbuzzard
Hi Sue

That letter is indeed a tough one to decipher. Even if you can work out what each bit means, the important thing is to know what it means in practice, i.e. what's next, or what you need to do.

Please don't be upset that more people didn't respond – regular users of this forum, especially the most helpful ones, are acutely conscious that we shouldn't attempt to give personal medical advice that can really only come from a qualified doctor who knows the patient. You really need your urologist or GP to explain it and exactly what it means for you.

The general advice that I can give, is that it's useful to learn as much as you can about how to understand your blood test results – ask for a copy of these if you don't have them already. See http://edren.org/pages/edreninfo/blood- ... isease.php for some good explanation. In particular your 'Creatinine' and 'Creatinine Clearance' levels: these give a good indication of your overall kidney function, and are used to calculate an eGFR, which is an estimate of your kidney function. Knowing the way this is changing over time (months and years) is important. If it's low, but stable, that can be fine; if it's declining faster than what happens with normal ageing, then some sort of intervention may be needed.

You could put 'Glomerulonephritis' into the search box on the top right of the screen on this forum. It's an easy word to misspell :-) so you won't find every post, but you might find something useful. There's also a section here on the Edinburgh Renal site about it.

Please do try asking other questions here – I first arrived here just after being diagnosed with end stage renal failure in 2006, and it has been one of the most useful resources in my whole kidney journey. I don't visit as often as I used to, but it's about as friendly, well-moderated and mature online communities that exists in the wild world of public internet forums.

Re: Nephrology letter

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:53 am
by MatthewC
Susan2 wrote: While I understand that not everyone can help or know what I am asking about and if you hadn’t answered @wagolynn I would be very anxious by now . It is a sad that even thought my post generated nearly 100 views only one person tried to help .
Because Wagolynn very promptly gave the answer that most people would give!

As BB says:
bigbuzzard wrote:Please don't be upset that more people didn't respond – regular users of this forum, especially the most helpful ones, are acutely conscious that we shouldn't attempt to give personal medical advice that can really only come from a qualified doctor who knows the patient. You really need your urologist or GP to explain it and exactly what it means for you.
Never leave an appointment without understanding what they said - ask and ask again.