Hello everyone,
my father (91, heart failure stage 2, kidney failure stage 4) just got his recent blood work. I expected his GFR to decline further but it has dropped from (30 in 10/2019 -->29 in 01/2020 --> 24 in /05/2020). I feel so paralyzed by fear. In 2018 his GFR was at 44. The last couple of days he had issues with diarrhea and today is the first day he is feeling better again. I'm just at a loss. He has no symptoms like ankle swelling. We try to get him to drink more but it's not that easy. I'm all over the place at the moment. I don't even know what a GFR of 24 means, I know it's kindey stage 4 but what am I looking at in the future?
Thank you :)
They definitely don’t begin dialysis for a Creatinine of 2 or 3 or even 4! Everyone is different, remember.
You have a way to go.
Continue what you are doing & visit those 2 websites for the CKD diet.
But also, realistically, he is 91,and if he enjoys eating foods he isn’t supposed to I would allow him that.
Unless something stresses out his kidneys now to tip him into CKD 5 I would hypothesize he won’t die from renal failure. At his age he is fragile and many things could happen, so take what I say as a non expert but an old RN.
From what you wrote, you already know he is in stage 4.
"Water ingestion can acutely affect GFR, although not necessarily in the direction one might expect. Using 12 young, healthy individuals as their own controls, Anastasio et al. found increased water intake actually decreases GFR."
From the above, it looks like drinking more water doesn't really help.
Your Dad is 91. His body is wearing out. I think you just need to enjoy the time you have together. Be glad you have had him this long. Not everyone is so lucky.
thank you for your reply. After his lab results from january I was hoping that the decline was slowing down. His creatinine is 2,26 mg/dl. Dialysis is totally out of the question.
You just need to maintain where he is at. He also could have been dehydrated which would increase the creatinine level but it sounds like he is CKD 3 as well as been in renal insufficiency for quite some time on review of the labs you provided.
No IV dyes for him if they ever want to do any such test.
You can find the CKD diet and loads of information for you at the National Kidney Foundation website or NIDDK.gov.
I am not sure I would begin dialysis on a 90 year old unless he was Jack LaLaine. Hemodialysis is grueling on a body yet alone a 90 y/o.