Kidneys

[SusanJ]

Caroline, you mentioned in your earlier post that your dad’s kidney’s had started to give him problems. Is this something that happens with this disease? Does everything fall apart? I’m really worried about my dad’s spirit as well because he has always been so active, but then I try to rationalize that natural aging changes how active we can be also. He is trying to walk a little now, but has to stop and rest a lot. He used to be able to walk 3 miles without stopping. He attributes this to getting old, he says. I guess we all will have to make adjustments.

[lynette]

Susan,
Did you mention that your Dad has CHF? This is probably adding to his fatigue. With CHF, the heart is not pumping effectively, therefore the body and lungs are not getting enough oxygen. When someone is anemic, the body loses some of its capacity to transport oxygen. The combination can cause a great deal of fatigue. MDS does not target the kidney per say. However, many of the medications used can be harmful to the kidney. My Mom has 1 kidney, however she opted for Chemo, since without it she did not have much of a chance at remisssion. Although the drugs were known to be nephrotoxic, she came through without any residual kidney damage.
You mention a good point. It is natural for the kidneys to lose some of their ability to function as one ages. Ususally, we don’t really notice a change unless there is an underlying disease such as Diabetes.
Stay stong–I know it’s hard!
Lynette

[CarolineG]

Susan.

Kidney failure is something that CAN go along with CMML. In Dad’s case, it does. I don’t know the technical terms I’ll try to explain part of his case. The enzyme or hormone…I don’t know what…that tells the bone marrow to produce healthy red blood cells is produced in the nephrons. Nephrons are in the kidneys. If the nephrons are not working properly, then they will not produce healthy enzymes. If the enzymes are not healthy, they will not be able to tell the bone marrow to produce good blood cells. If the blood cells are not good, the patient will have a blood disorder. In a very simplistic fashion, this is how Dad’s Nephrologist explained it to me. It is possible that Dad has had kidney failure for up to 20 years and never had any symptoms. His blood disorder showed up 3 1/2 years ago. As soon as the MDS transitioned to CMML at the end of last summer, his kidneys also started showing signs of dysfunction. So, in Dad’s case we are not seeing the diseases begin….we are seeing the tail end. He has been very lucky. He has been a sick man for probably half of my life and nobody even knew it.
Everything does not necessarily fall apart but look at it this way. Your blood runs to every square inch of your body and feeds it, organs and all. If the blood is diseased, it isn’t going to be able to do a fantastic job of keeping all of the body parts healthy by itself. It will need help. That is why it is so important to keep the immune system healthy. This is where all of the people on this forum are so well educated. Listen to them and follow their advice. If the blood has help from outside, it can still flow through the body and fortify it…kind of like putting fertilizer in water that you water your plants with. The water may not be the greatest. It has minerals and junk in it. But when you add fertilizer, it gives the water the kick it needs to help your plants along.
My Dad gets so frustrated and cranky at the thought that he can’t perform like he used to that it makes me sad. I can’t help him. Encouragement only makes him even more distraught. Getting older and slowing down naturally is bad enough. Add to that being sick AND having a weak heart and not being able to do much at all, and it is downright frightening. I can completely understand how he must feel, especially when he has to watch his wife who is also terminally sick go out and shovel the snow or take out the trash. Not only does he feel like his strength is gone, his dignity and chivalry isn’t doing very well either.

The best we, as children can do is to love them and be there for them. Smile with them and boost them along when they feel down. And always remember that someday we will probably need help too so when we feel like bawling them out for being so negative, try to put the shoe on the other foot and treat them the way we hope to be treated in a few years from now.

Talk to you soon.
Caroline

[sarah]

My husband went into hospital Nov 14, 2005 for induction chemo for what was to be a 30 day stay. We would proceed after this to Minnesota for double cordblood transplant. After 56 days later he had acute renal failure and passed on Jan 9, 2006. He had no prior problems with kidneys before this chemo. This is still a very sore subject for me right now. I never thought I would leave that hospital without him.

[SusanJ]

Sarah,

[SusanJ]

Sarah,

I am so very, very sorry. Chemo is a horrible thing, but we want to try everything to save the people we love. This is so unfair. I will keep you in my prayers. God bless you.

[Author]

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