Field Report: All Things Kidney . . .
Time for an update on the kidney front.
The kidney stone medical study in which I have been participating since August has finished (well, my portion is finished). It went longer than I had originally planned because one arm of the study (in September) got cancelled in and rescheduled to October. There were four arms and I participated in all of them. I finished up on Monday, October 18, 2019.
It was really interesting, but I am glad to be done. Each arm of the study entailed my spending six hours in the research center peeing and having blood taken every 20 minutes (alternately). That was pretty wild :-D But I know that my participation has been important and I know that it has helped not only me, but will help others in the future - both women and men.
One of the things I had to do before I started the study was sign a statement saying that I was aware that I could make stones during the study.
Even though I was aware of this, I was very surprised to pass some stone gravel on that Monday morning. It wasn't very painful (only a few kidney twinges, thank goodness). I had to do a 24-hour urine collection the day before the study, which is how I found the gravel. It was orange in color so that means that it was uric acid (but the study administrator sent it out to be tested to be sure). Here it is, in a Ziploc bag.
I have a genetic metabolic disorder/component that I have mentioned before: Idiopathic Hypercalciuria (IH, for short). But in addition to making calcium oxalate stones, last year I started making uric acid ones. During the course of the study I had to stop taking a number of things, including my potassium citrate. Potassium citrate is what makes my urine alkaline enough to halt the formation of these uric acid stones. It also will help to dissolve uric acid stones in the body. Uric acid stones are the only stones that can be dissolved in the body.
Anyway - passing the gravel was startling and not a little scary. I could hardly wait to get home that night and start taking my potassium citrate again! The fear of stone pain is strong, you guys. It's a fear that never goes away, and since I've been hospitalized for stones twice, had a stone fragment left inside me (potassium citrate dissolved it enough that I could pass it), and managed to pass a third stone on my own (that was not fun), I know stone pain when I feel it. I had had a few kidney twinges during the past month or so, but seeing the gravel was an eye-opener. These uric acid stones can form really quickly . . .
One really great thing was getting to meet with the study's registered dietician. Not only is she kind, she was super helpful. Since I continue to have a lot of GI issues, she gave me the name of a probiotic to try. I'm going to give it a shot
Anyway - the study is done :-) Then, two days later, I had a follow up appointment from my March visit to Dr. Coe. This was one of the most interesting and enlightening doctor visits I've ever had - some of it was material that was covered before, but somehow, everything seemed to come together this time in a way that was really, really helpful to me. We spoke at length, and I will see him again in May 2020. Here are some of the things I learned:
You Guys, that's like six really major things. I am well aware that sometimes I need to hear/see/read/experience something more than once for me to get a strong handle on it, and this recent visit was good. Dr. Coe is so patient and he explained things to me differently this time - in a less scientific, not quite so technical way that seemed to allow my brain to process it all more easily.
There was one piece of not-so-great news, and that was that my kidney function is slightly reduced. It's not bad, and I'm hopeful that it will be fine when I have to do another urine collection in April of next year. I'm totally guessing here, but I'm wondering if the gravel scratched my ureter on its way out. Last December, when I had my last stone incident with that sharp stone ripping me up on its way out, my kidney function was down, but it came back up. I'm going to focus on that moving forward :-)
In other news of the day that affects my kidneys, Weight Watchers just brought back their very first Smart Points program that used to be called Beyond the Scale (now they call it the Green Plan). I'm super happy about this and am already down on the scale.
I'm signing off on this field report on my Cranky Little Kidney. :-) Seriously, I'm going to write a children's book . . . ;-)
The holidays are here!! Wheeeee!
The kidney stone medical study in which I have been participating since August has finished (well, my portion is finished). It went longer than I had originally planned because one arm of the study (in September) got cancelled in and rescheduled to October. There were four arms and I participated in all of them. I finished up on Monday, October 18, 2019.
It was really interesting, but I am glad to be done. Each arm of the study entailed my spending six hours in the research center peeing and having blood taken every 20 minutes (alternately). That was pretty wild :-D But I know that my participation has been important and I know that it has helped not only me, but will help others in the future - both women and men.
One of the things I had to do before I started the study was sign a statement saying that I was aware that I could make stones during the study.
Even though I was aware of this, I was very surprised to pass some stone gravel on that Monday morning. It wasn't very painful (only a few kidney twinges, thank goodness). I had to do a 24-hour urine collection the day before the study, which is how I found the gravel. It was orange in color so that means that it was uric acid (but the study administrator sent it out to be tested to be sure). Here it is, in a Ziploc bag.
I have a genetic metabolic disorder/component that I have mentioned before: Idiopathic Hypercalciuria (IH, for short). But in addition to making calcium oxalate stones, last year I started making uric acid ones. During the course of the study I had to stop taking a number of things, including my potassium citrate. Potassium citrate is what makes my urine alkaline enough to halt the formation of these uric acid stones. It also will help to dissolve uric acid stones in the body. Uric acid stones are the only stones that can be dissolved in the body.
Anyway - passing the gravel was startling and not a little scary. I could hardly wait to get home that night and start taking my potassium citrate again! The fear of stone pain is strong, you guys. It's a fear that never goes away, and since I've been hospitalized for stones twice, had a stone fragment left inside me (potassium citrate dissolved it enough that I could pass it), and managed to pass a third stone on my own (that was not fun), I know stone pain when I feel it. I had had a few kidney twinges during the past month or so, but seeing the gravel was an eye-opener. These uric acid stones can form really quickly . . .
One really great thing was getting to meet with the study's registered dietician. Not only is she kind, she was super helpful. Since I continue to have a lot of GI issues, she gave me the name of a probiotic to try. I'm going to give it a shot
Anyway - the study is done :-) Then, two days later, I had a follow up appointment from my March visit to Dr. Coe. This was one of the most interesting and enlightening doctor visits I've ever had - some of it was material that was covered before, but somehow, everything seemed to come together this time in a way that was really, really helpful to me. We spoke at length, and I will see him again in May 2020. Here are some of the things I learned:
- I will have to take potassium citrate for the rest of my life. It's super important and he was very clear that I must remember to take it.
- Shellfish and meat are back on the table for me in reasonable amounts (and you have no idea how much easier my life got with that information).
- My most recent 24-hour urine collection results were not awful :-)
- Salt: I must become even more compliant with lowering my sodium.
- Refined Sugar: I must become even more compliant about avoiding added sugar.
- My GI issues will, hopefully, resolve as I get a better handle on managing stress, and avoiding added sugar.
You Guys, that's like six really major things. I am well aware that sometimes I need to hear/see/read/experience something more than once for me to get a strong handle on it, and this recent visit was good. Dr. Coe is so patient and he explained things to me differently this time - in a less scientific, not quite so technical way that seemed to allow my brain to process it all more easily.
There was one piece of not-so-great news, and that was that my kidney function is slightly reduced. It's not bad, and I'm hopeful that it will be fine when I have to do another urine collection in April of next year. I'm totally guessing here, but I'm wondering if the gravel scratched my ureter on its way out. Last December, when I had my last stone incident with that sharp stone ripping me up on its way out, my kidney function was down, but it came back up. I'm going to focus on that moving forward :-)
In other news of the day that affects my kidneys, Weight Watchers just brought back their very first Smart Points program that used to be called Beyond the Scale (now they call it the Green Plan). I'm super happy about this and am already down on the scale.
I'm signing off on this field report on my Cranky Little Kidney. :-) Seriously, I'm going to write a children's book . . . ;-)
The holidays are here!! Wheeeee!
Comments
Happy Thanksgiving!!