I have a question; when you donate a kidney, do you automatically have chronic kidney disease because you only have 1 left? I have stage 3 and i feel great. never had a problem since i donated 11 years ago. just wondering...
Having only one kidney is not a "kidney disease" as long as the kidney is working well. I have been told that some doctors may simply look at your test numbers, compare them to charts for "average" (TWO-kidney) people and casually declare "stage 3 disease". Other doctors will look at your entire health picture, take into consideration that YOU have only one kidney, and THEN determine if you have "stage 3 disease" or if this is your a"new normal". So it would be wise, I think, to ask further questions. Does your doctor have experience in treating living kidney donors? That can make a difference.
Fr. Pat
Hi himer24, you may need to educate your doctor(s), since they may not have ever had a donor as a patient. I keep track of my blood results to show that they are stable over time. This is your "normal" level as a donor. Interestingly, when I have been hospitalized for my colitis and am getting tons of IV and prednisone, my kidney function shows as actually normal. Love, elephant
I've gotten into heated debates with my doctors over this. I'm also labeled as CKD III with GFR between 50 and 59. I said, hey the kidney is healthy. They said we have to go on the GFR. Well, thank heavens the insurance company didn't boot me.
I've had the same discussion with my doctor. We agreed to leave the CKD in my medical record because... well... he has to. :-[ But he made a note acknowledging that table is not for someone with one kidney.
Also, I've been keeping track of my kidney health biometrics for 20 years using a spreadsheet as evidence that it's been holding steady for decades: https://livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/afterwards/#:~:text=LDO%20created%20a-,personal%20worksheet,-listing%20the%20tests (https://livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/afterwards/#:~:text=LDO%20created%20a-,personal%20worksheet,-listing%20the%20tests)
Finally, I've captured lots of discussion on the issue of "low" GFR for living kidney donors in this message thread: https://livingdonorsonline.org/ldosmf/index.php?topic=7950.0 (https://livingdonorsonline.org/ldosmf/index.php?topic=7950.0) There might be information there to share with your primary care physician.