Kidneys 101

Since it was discovered that I had Multiple Myeloma 15 years ago I have been obsessed with my kidneys. When I was first diagnosed my kidneys were functioning at only 20% of their capabilities. After chemotherapy for the cancer, my kidneys responded and improved to about 40% which is good enough to survive.

For years I babied them drinking a gallon of water every day and staying away from foods and liquids that might harm them. Despite this care, they continued to deteriorate due to the onslaught of cancer and chemo. I didn’t have kidney cancer, but the Myeloma created proteins that damaged the kidneys further.

Finally, the kidneys got to the point that I needed to go on dialysis.  They still worked but not enough to keep me alive. For the last 2 ½ years I have been tied to a machine to keep me going. First, it was at the hospital, then at a dialysis center, then the hospital, then back to a dialysis center, and finally home with Julia being my nurse and doing all of the work necessary to keep my blood clean.

When all of this started, I was not very smart about my kidneys. I was like most people and just took them for granted. All I knew about them was that they helped me urinate. Boy, was I underestimating their value to the body. Aside from passing liquid through my body, they have several other functions that are needed to keep us healthy.

The kidneys perform the following functions:

• Remove waste products from the body
• Remove drugs from the body
• Balance the body's fluids
• Release hormones that regulate blood pressure
• Produce an active form of vitamin D that promotes strong, healthy bones
• Control the production of red blood cells

I currently do dialysis four times each week.  It takes care of three of those functions in that it removes drugs and waste products and takes off about four to five pounds of liquid each session. However, it doesn’t do the rest. I have to get injections of the drug Retacrit weekly to help increase my hemoglobin (red blood cells). 

I have to be careful of what I am eating so I do not overload on phosphorus and potassium because dialysis doesn’t handle those very well. As a result, I stay away from dairy, nuts, and nut products like peanut butter, whole grains, bananas, tomatoes, beans, chocolate, oranges and a boatload of other items.  One of the first things I am going to indulge myself in will be a banana split as virtually everything in it is on my “do not consume” list.

I am down to five dialysis treatments before my lovely wife gives me one of her kidneys. One of the things that we found out during this journey is that the body does just fine with only one kidney. This marvelous organ is a wonder. Even though Julia will only have one kidney, there is only a 1% chance that she will run into any problems in the future.

Take care of yourself and take the advice that I have been preaching since I started this blog 15 years ago – get an annual physical. Without my physical at that time, I likely would have had a heart attack because my potassium was so high due to the kidney failure from the cancer. Take care of your kidneys. Stay hydrated.

This will be my last blog until after the operation on November 19th. Be good and keep the prayers coming. Maybe we can get together for a banana split when we’re all healed up.