NEW TO THIS SITE

[redsox]

HI EVERYONE, I JUST WANT TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO ALL OF YOU AND TELL YOU HOW MUCH COMFORT AND REASSURANCE I FIND IN YOUR POSTS
I HAVE HAD KIDNEY DISEASE FOR ALMOST THIRTY YEARS. I HAVE BEEN LUCKY IN THE RESPECT I HAVE NOT REACHED ESRD YET. BUT I DO FEAR THAT DAY WILL COME. MY DIAGNOSIS CAME WHEN I WAS HAVING A ROUTINE PHYSICAL AND MICROSCOPIC BLOOD CELLS WERE FOUND IN MY URINE. I WENT THROUGH A BATTERY OF TESTS AND WAS TOLD I HAVE CHRONIC NEPHRITIS. YEARS PAST PRETTY UNEVENTFUL, I EVEN GAVE BIRTH BUT MORE RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT I HAVE PROTEIN AS WELL AS RED AND WHITE BLOOD CELLS IN MY URINE. I'M TAKING AN ACE INHIBITOR (JUST STARTED) AND LIKE MANY OF YOU, I DON'T GET A WHOLE LOT OF INFORMATION FROM MY DOC. I HAVE HAD A FEW 24 HOUR URINE TESTS. NOT MUCH DISCUSSION FROM THE DOC ON THAT EITHER. WHEN I ASK SHE SAYS WELL YOU ARE LEAKING SOME PROTEIN BUT YOU CREATINE CLEARANCE IS PRETTY GOOD. IF YOU HAVE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT IT. NICE TALKING TO YOU ALL.

[Rachel in NY]

Welcome to the board, even if you're a red sox fan.

[Hal]

Welcome

[LadySycamore]

Hello redsox and congrats on the World Series win!

Wow 30 years and not on dialysis...that's pretty good.

Best way to get a grip on what's going on with you is to research, research, research. Make the net your best friend when it comes to information and what you need to know what is going on with you and your situation (since you said that your doc isn't up for much discussion). If you have a decent printer handy, you can print out some items that pertain to your situation and present them to your doc and *make* him/her discuss your situation with you (it's worked wonders for me!). After all, it's your health and future...you should be able to talk it all over with your medical professionals.

Hope that helped somewhat. Good luck.