Does pee equal Kidney function!?

[Mymommyhero]

About a month ago we were thrown into this journey head on! 🎯 We abruptly found out mom's right kidney was blocked, post biopsy found out it was cancer in her ureter and it seemed likely that her left kidney hadn't functioned well for quite some time. 😳
This week she had the large jugular cathedar put in on Tuesday for hemodialysis and had right kidney, ureter and part of her bladder removed on Wednesday. 24 hours later, they decided to put her on her first dialysis treatment...
Here's the kicker, she did only two hours and the doctor feels like perhaps two two hour treatments a week may be all she will need. ❓
She has a urinary cathedar in right now and she is filling the large bags three times a day with YELLOW urine, not clear like it had been coming out of her right kidney pre removal. (she had a bag attached to her back draining her right cancerous kidney).
Now that kidney is gone and she is urinating more than ever... Like A LOT more!❗
Would it be possible that her left kidney has started to work? 🤔
They have never found any reason why it wasn't working...

Does this large volume of yellow pee potentially mean that things are starting to function? 🤔

Does the low amount of dialysis time mean that perhaps left kidney is doing what we hope?? 🤔

If I am sound dense or insensitive, I do apologize. We have been on a very steap learning curve this past month. 🤓

[Charlie B53]

Labs will determine the Quality of the urine Mom is producing.

You cannot go by volume or color alone as QUALITY determined by labs is the ultimate determining factor.

There are a number of us still making various amounts, from very little to an awful lot, but damaged kidneys are unable to remove much of the toxins that a more 'normal' kidney removes from the blood.  This is why Labs are so critical, both urine and blood work, to determine just how much dialysis may be needed for a particular person.

2 hrs twice a week is not a lot.  Many of us run 4 hrs three times a week which is considered a minimum for severely damaged kidneys.  Generally more is better as large molecules such as potassium and phosphorus are most difficult to remove.

I Pray Mom heals quickly and is soon able to come home.

[rcjordan]

My kidney failure was exactly like your moms.  In the US, I was classified as 'acute' rather than 'chronic' for the first 90 days as the docs believed that some significant function would return.  Before & after surgery I made 1- to 1.5 liters of what the staff called "the best-looking pee in the whole hospital." Sonograms showed the remaining kidney to look great for my age. Six months later, my urine output is about the same, I'm just not filtering.  I have about 3% function.

Based on what the docs told me, acute patients have a fair chance of having some function return.  Maybe your mom will be lucky.

[iolaire]

I believe that pee will make the transition to dialysis easier.  During my 3.5 years of dialysis I was lucky not ever to loose the ability to pee.  That means I never had to seriously control my liquid intake which means I never had to take of huge amounts of liquid.  Because of that I think dialysis was easier and less draining on the body.   So I think the pee is positive even if it doesn't do the filtering. 














Sp mod Cas

[kristina]

   
[ Question : Does pee equal Kidney function!? ]

No it does not and nephrologists always "look out" for quality-urine-output for that reason.
For example, I have been on dialysis for a few years now and I still have some output every day, but I am no longer producing any "quality output" because my "two little fighters" are no longer able to filter properly and that is the reason why I need dialysis. But nevertheless, I am very happy to still be able and have some output, because without it, I daresay, I would have to face different problems  ...
Best wishes from Kristina.

[Marilee]

I have known several friends who ended up with Acute Kidney Injury that were only on dialysis a short while to get over that hump while their primary situation healed.
Acute Kidney Injury is probably worth reading about https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/AcuteKidneyInjury because that may be what actually happened to Mom's remaining kidney and if so, now that the cancers have been removed she may be able to get on with just the one. If the second one recovers fully, she may be off dialysis. I know that's precisely what you are hoping, but I'm totally not her doctor (haven't seen ANY of her tests and wouldn't know what I'm looking at), but it's certainly worth some time to learn more about AKI so you can ask her doctor some key questions.