How long?

[Prayformiracle]

This may be a broad question but how long do you have to live if your kidneys are only functioning 10-15%.  My FIL's old kidney doctor told him he had 3 months to live and he has beat that so far. 

I am pretty clueless and have only posted once about FIL who is in kidney failure and refuses dialysis.  He is also waiting on transplant testing (from his brother)  - they have said he is a blood match and have moved on to the tissue test. 

[KICKSTART]

Im no expert but as far as i know there is no set time , everyone would vary, but from what i can remember it isnt very long as in ,from a matter of days to a month or so.

[Bub]

My kidneys are not functioning at all and my neph said that I would last only two weeks without dialysis, and that was if God was merciful.  Without the mercy he said I might last a month but the last two weeks would be the most miserable of my life.  I ask him because when I first started hemo I felt that it was too much and I wanted to quit.  Everyone assured me that it would get easier, and they were right.  It has become easier, but, I STILL
HATE DIALYSIS!

[paris]

I have fluctuated between 12-15% for three years!  Another member stayed at 15% for five years before getting a transplant.   Each person is different.  I hope you FIL stays at this level and gets his transplant soon.  And good for his brother for wanting to donate   

[Prayformiracle]

My kidneys are not functioning at all and my neph said that I would last only two weeks without dialysis, and that was if God was merciful.  Without the mercy he said I might last a month but the last two weeks would be the most miserable of my life.  I ask him because when I first started hemo I felt that it was too much and I wanted to quit.  Everyone assured me that it would get easier, and they were right.  It has become easier, but, I STILL
HATE DIALYSIS!

Thank you for your reply.  So how long did you wait before starting hemo?  We really want him to do dialysis, but he will not.  He dr says he will need it 5 days a week and he said that is no way to live.  I wish he would at least do it to keep himself healthy for his surgery (crossing fingers that it will work out). 

[Prayformiracle]

I have fluctuated between 12-15% for three years!  Another member stayed at 15% for five years before getting a transplant.   Each person is different.  I hope you FIL stays at this level and gets his transplant soon.  And good for his brother for wanting to donate   

Yes I think you are right that everyone is different.  He has some other big health issues that seem to be impacting his kidneys, ie a water pill and some other things.  Basically he has gone from 50% to 15% in 2 years.  I wish they had thought of a kidney transplant sooner but his old dr said he would "never be a candidate" - this is a long story but due to a mass in his kidney which some say is cancer and some say is not.  That is another whole issue in itself but we are taking this one step at a time.  They wont know if it is cancer until they do the surgery to take it out.  then they need a few days to test it and if its not cancer, then he can get the new kidney.  Whew.

[LightLizard]

if you haven't seen this, you should.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNN8sGZQd5w
of course, this gentleman is an exceptional case,
but to live 43 years on dialysis and to feel that
you have lived well has to say something
to you and your friend.
 

[Hanify]

The problem is he may end up too sick to get a transplant.  Has anyone told him/you about PD?  It's much easier than haemo.

[Goofy]

I came to this site with the exact same question.  My neph has been telling me for almost 2 years that I need to start dialysis.  I still haven't and for a while wasn't feeling too well.  The last few months, I've been feeling so good that its hard to believe my kidney function is around 7% according to the NKF GFR calculator. 

Others on this site have suggested that I start dialysis but I still can't bring myself to do it.  Even though I feel well, everyone says its not a wise decision to wait.

I just keep waiting to get consistently sick, but I never do. The days I may feel sick, I keep telling myself that its not the kidneys and it must be "something I ate" or I have "the flu".

I had a PD cath put in almost two years ago (its buried under my skin) and I recently went to a surgeon to see about brining the access out so I can start dialysis (only because my neph says I need to start). I saw the surgeon but never made an appointment to actually have the surgery done.  Again, I feel good so why should I start?  I go to my neph every month and each month he gets angrier and angrier that I won't start.

I saws him at the end of August before I left for a two week vacation and at that time I promised I would make an appointment to have the surgery done.  In my mind, I really didn't think I would go through with it but I just said it to make the doctor happy.  Now I'm back and I have no intention of having the surgery.  I'm actually afraid to go to my next appointment.  I know he will not be happy and then I'll feel bad.  But I keep thinking its my life and I shouldn't do anything just to make "someone else" happy.

My daughter is getting married March of 2010 and my intention is to really try an hold off until then.  It's only 6 months away so I hope I can make it. 

I keep thinking of excuses to tell my neph but I think I'm going to run out of them soon.  So the moral of the story is.......everyone is different.  I personally am going to make my decision to start based on how I feel; not what my kidney function is at.  I wouldn't give that advice to anyone else; that just my own personal thought on how to make the decision to start.

[bette1]

Please be careful.  People get used to feeling sick, and they don't realize how sick they are until damage has been done.

[LightLizard]

Goofy, do you keep aware of your GFR? when it gets down to the teens, you might be feeling different. But you're right for sure, it's YOUR life.
all the best.
 

[kellyt]

My GFR was bouncing around between 6 & 7 all throughout 2008 up until I transplanted in Nov.