mblaumuller

I recently started working for a nephrologist, rounding in the hospital and at the dialysis clinics. Just a few questions.

1. Are you going to have your tunnel cath removed soon?

2. Have you had trouble keeping your albumin levels up? (Any tips I can give the patients I see?)

3. Do you still make any urine? If not, does it feel strange to no longer pee?

Random fact: Did you know that long term dialysis can actually damage the remaining kidney function a patient may have left.

I wish you the best of luck in finding a suitable donor, and in your future endeavors minus the 3 times a week dialysis.

Oh I know you must be excited about getting the tunnel cath removed!

Short term dialysis doesn't cause any damage to remaining kidney function, but long term often does, especially if your time on the machine increases. The machine plus tubing takes about 200ml of blood out of your body for the entire time you run. So on average that's -200ml for 4 hours 3 times a week for 52 weeks over years. This means there is less blood in the body to perfuse the kidneys. That would not be a big deal if it were occasional, as in the case of acute blood loss due to an injury, but over time can really take a toll on your kidneys. The body will perfuse the heart, brain, and lungs first when the body is low on blood.

And now that I have rambled on for way to long, I will again congratulate you on your acceptance to "the list".

It's one of the labs we monitor closely while a pt is on dialysis. 40 is crazy high, we shoot for a 4, and anything below a 2 is crazy scary. The higher levels of albumin will also help to keep the fluids in the blood stream, (helping to prevent 3rd spacing fluids) which can then be pulled off during a dialysis treatment.