Kidney Problems Resurface

I have suffered from kidney stones for many years.  Knock on wood, I have not had a bout for nearly a year.  I had an appointment with a nephrologist (kidney doctor) yesterday and he began to talk about kidney dialysis and kidney transplants with me.  After he totally threw my world in a tailspin, he relayed my kidneys are working at a level of about 45-60 % of their prescribed functionality.  The basis for his assessment was in a measure of creatinine levels in my blood.  (see info below)

I asked if I needed to alter my running in any fashion to compensate for my faltering kidneys and was told I did not.

I was very dejected yesterday because I will need to be pharmaceutically dependent for my remaining years to maintain good health.  Running will not erase or eradicate my kidney damage.  The doctor stated I was in Stage 3 of kidney malfunction on a widely used scale of one to five, with five being the worst.

Excerpted from http://www.yourkidneys.com

When your chronic kidney disease progresses to Stage 4, you should see a nephrologist (kidney doctor). This is also the time when your health care team can talk to you about dialysis and/or a kidney transplant.

I remain astonished at how quickly and radically my perception of my own health has changed.   Nevertheless, I will keep on running.


Excerpted from http://www.medicinenet.com/creatinine_blood_test/article.htm

What is creatinine?

Creatinine is a chemical waste molecule that is generated from muscle metabolism. Creatinine is produced from creatine, a molecule of major importance for energy production in muscles. Approximately 2% of the body's creatine is converted to creatinine every day. Creatinine is transported through the bloodstream to the kidneys. The kidneys filter out most of the creatinine and dispose of it in the urine.
Because the muscle mass in the body is relatively constant from day to day, the creatinine level in the blood normally remains essentially unchanged on a daily basis.

Why is it important to check blood creatinine levels?

The kidneys maintain the blood creatinine in a normal range. Creatinine has been found to be a fairly reliable indicator of kidney function.
As the kidneys become impaired for any reason, the creatinine level in the blood will rise due to poor clearance by the kidneys. Abnormally high levels of creatinine thus warn of possible malfunction or failure of the kidneys. It is for this reason that standard blood tests routinely check the amount of creatinine in the blood. A more precise measure of the kidney function can be estimated by calculating how much creatinine is cleared from the body by the kidneys and it is referred to creatinine clearance.