Introduction To Kidney Disease

I had answered an interesting question earlier today. Not once, but twice.

"Why don't doctors clean out a person's kidney with special instruments? Get in all the nooks and crannies so that the kidney will work"?

Well, I wish it was that simple.

Kidneys that are failing have scars. Irreversible scars. Once a kidney is damaged you can not get that kidney function back. Kidneys do much more than filter urine. They get rid of the toxins in our blood that we build up in our body such as CO2. They help produce red blood cells so we can have oxygen flow through our body. If it wasn't for our kidneys the rest of the organs in our body would die from being poisoned. This is just the icing on the cake.

Chronic kidney failure is not caused by an obstruction. Acute renal failure can be caused by a kidney stone blocking the ureter into the bladder. That can be reversed by surgery or lithotripsy. Chronic Renal Failure is usuaslly caused by an underlying disease such as diabetes, hypertension, PKD, or autoimmune diseases to name a few. Mine was caused by Sjogren's Syndrome with a heavy impact of renal tubular acidosis.

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a medical condition that involves an accumulation of acid in the body due to a failure of the kidneys to appropriately acidify the urine.[1] When blood is filtered by the kidney, the filtrate passes through the tubules of the nephron, allowing for exchange of salts, acid equivalents, and other solutes before it drains into the bladder as urine. The metabolic acidosis that results from RTA may be caused either by failure to recover sufficient (alkaline) bicarbonate ions from the filtrate in the early portion of the nephron (proximal tubule) or by insufficient secretion of (acid) hydrogen ions into the latter portions of the nephron (distal tubule). Although a metabolic acidosis also occurs in those with renal insufficiency, the term RTA is reserved for individuals with poor urinary acidification in otherwise well-functioning kidneys. Several different types of RTA exist, which all have different syndromes and different causes.

That concludes your class to Introduction to Kidney Disease. :)

Transplant Class

Sorry, it has been a few days. I received a lot of information on what is to come the next few months. Some I already knew, some I didn't. I may divide my info into 2 or 3 segments. :)

First, let me just say it was an emotional day when I sat there with others from different walks of life.....we all have one final destination and that is to get a kidney transplant and live a longer healthier life. Before it started I looked around the class and noticed that there were young and old, male and female, Caucasian, African American, and Asian. Many came as I did with family to help deal with all this info given to us. I couldn't help the tears rolling down my face.

They talked about 3 areas. Steps in getting qualified for transplant, living donation, and financials. I am nervous that my high ANA (antibodies) will disqualify me for transplant. In fact, each year only 6.5 percent of highly sensitized patients receive a transplant. Most remain on dialysis indefinitely, without hope for a life-saving transplant, with grim financial implications and poor quality of life. I asked this question and the transplant coordinator suggested for me to send my latest lab work from the rhuematologist. She said that they may place me on hold for several months to get my numbers down with medicine. This would be OK, because I am not planning on getting this done until sometime next year. She assured me that there were others with similar circumstances and transplant was a success for them. We were told that we should hear from them and meet with the transplant team in the next 4-6 weeks to see if I am transplant worthy. I have to get a pap smear and TB test done prior to meeting with them too. I don't have to get other pre-tests done because I am below the age requirement. Of Course when I get to MUSC I will have a series of outpatient tests like chest xray, EKG, and a few other tests that are done with the transplant team. After you meet with the team (which includes a financial person to see if you can afford having a transplant and all the medicine afterwards) they discuss you in a meeting and see if you are a "true" candidate. And yes......financials are a big part of it...sad, but true.

When you are accepted they place you on the transplant list. (cadaver list) Even though we are going for a living donation I will be placed on this list too. (Just in case I can't find a living donor that matches with me). There are over 600 people waiting for a kidney transplant in South Carolina and the average wait is between 2-3 years for a cadaver kidney. I have been told it would be less than 2 years before I would need dialysis. I found out that the kidneys are given out on a point system....the longer you are on the list, the more points you accumulate. The only time that you would be pushed ahead of others is if you were a child, you had been waiting for a long time and going to die soon, or if you were a 100% perfect match. She had a man who was deemed transplant worthy and in less than 18 hours after he was put on the national list he had a new kidney because it was a PERFECT match. Amazing!

I will talk about living donation in the next day or so......

Thanks for listening! AND PRAY that my high antibodies come down. I don't want to be in that high sensitized category!

Sjogren's and kidney involvement??

Yes, it is possible. Many people have no clue what Sjogrens is.... actually for some people it isn't that bad. They have the dry mouth and dry eye symptoms. They attribute it to "old age" and take drops. I know those symptoms can be annoying as heck and can even make you change the way you live.

I have to laugh when I see medical journals or articles stating that although there is no cure for SJS it is not life threatening. HAHAHA It can be when it attacks your organs dufus's! I know I am in the minority on this, but I have met 2 others on Sjogren's World that have kidney disease caused by SJS. Another is getting looked at and he is concerned about his numbers. The key word is "CAN" be life threatening. Even if it does end up as renal replacement therapy AKA kidney transplant or dialysis....the quality of life seems to go up for most. Granted if you are on dialysis 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time....you need to adjust your everyday schedule to accommodate.

I have been educating myself on what seems to be the path my body is choosing to go down. I wish it would listen to my heart and my head. "KIDNEYS....DON'T YOU DARE QUIT ON ME". My Nephrologists believe that renal replacement therapy is in my future. How soon? They can't put a timeline on it.



It could be this year or 10 years from now. I can't help but think of that carnival game with the "sitting ducks" lined up ready to be knocked down.....I plan on being that "sitting duck" that won't go down.....the duck that sits there with that silly smirk looking at Sjogrens.....go ahead and try to knock me down....if you succeed, I will pick myself up!!

Anyone else out there??

I believe this is when it all started....the problems with my kidneys. It was back in 2000. I was actually on vicodin and had a stent running from my kidney to my bladder during my wedding and honeymoon. I had kidney stones and was told my ureters were smaller than normal. I was discharged from the hospital just short of my upcoming wedding...which was less than 48 hours away.

We suffered a miscarrige in 2002 and went through infertility problems in 2003. Fast foward to me having my 1st son born in 2004 and my second son born in 2006. I was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome right after my first son was born in the fall of 2004.

I am writing my thoughts, concerns, triumphs, and set-backs on this blog in hopes to see if anyone else is going through what I am going through. I plan on getting into detail about my diagnosis. Over 4 million people have this autoimmune disease...so why do people look at me like I have 4 heads when I tell them that I have this chronic illness?? I have the two most common complaints of this disease. Dry mouth and dry eyes...amongst many other problems. Unfortunately, I also have it affecting my kidneys and I am now in Stage IV Chronic Kidney Disease. Stage V is dialysis.

When I started this blog, I was the ONLY one that mentioned Sjogrens Syndrome in my profile in all of the blogspot world!! I stand here alone and hope someone else would like to join me in educating and winning our battle with this piece of shit disease called SJOGRENS!! Care to join me??