Nephrologist

[dadsgirl]

This topic has been moved to the correct thread.

Rerun~  Moderator

I've spent some time here today and this is a great site. You've done a good job! 
Is it normal to stop having appointments with your nephrologist after starting dialysis?  My father relies on the techs at the dailysis center for all his information and everything.  The Dr's walk through periodically but that's all.

[Sara]

I think that's how it usually goes.  At least in our case.  Joe hardly ever sees his Dr.

[Panda_9]

Noooo you still should be having regular check ups. I go once every 2 months. I think it was every 3 months when I was on PD.

[Epoman]

I've spent some time here today and this is a great site. You've done a good job! 
Is it normal to stop having appointments with your nephrologist after starting dialysis?  My father relies on the techs at the dailysis center for all his information and everything.  The Dr's walk through periodically but that's all.

Yeah, pretty much, you will still be seeing a Neph in the dialysis center at the very least monthly, but there really is no reason to make appointments with neph at a hospital or his office. Once you start dialysis that's it, your chronic, hence the name End Stage Renal Disease.  

So now once you start, you will be seeing different doctors if you choose a transplant, or need new access surgeries.

Oh and BIG, BIG mistake your dad getting his info and everything from the techs at the center. STOP THAT NOW! You want answers you come here.   and get the truth straight from people "living" it not by people getting a paycheck to be there.

- Epoman
Owner/Admin

[Epoman]

Noooo you still should be having regular check ups. I go once every 2 months. I think it was every 3 months when I was on PD.

Check ups for what?  If you're on dialysis, the dialysis centers doctor can help you and answer your questions. Save yourself the trip. It's not necessary. What's he going to tell you:

"I hate to tell you this but you still need dialysis, sorry" 

Going to a Neph, regularly is a big waste of time and insurance co-pay. If you have a problem tell the centers doctor and he can make an appointment for a specialist if you need it.

- Epoman

[hyperlite]

Yeah your doctor (or another nephrologist) should make regular rounds, and go over your dad's bloodwork (which they do once a month I think). It also gives you a chance to get any prescriptions re-filled and ask any questions, or voice your concerns.

[Panda_9]

Must be different over here. The doctors don't see patients in centre unless its needed. We all have to go and sit in outpatients for hours and hours to see them. Theres too many patients for the amount of doctors, but I guess theres not much you can do when your healthcare system is underfunded. We don't have "centre doctors". I still have to make the trip whoever/wherever I'm seen, as I'm on home dialysis.
We either have to wait until we have an appointment, or if somethings wrong we either go to emergency or if not an emergency the home training centre will try get a doctor down to see us there if there is one around.
Personally, I use my appointments for getting scripts, going through blood results, and raising any concerns I have. Those on nocturnal also see the doctor running the study every 2 months for a couple of things that are part of the study. If I didn't have regular appointments, I would be hassling the nurses to get my scripts written up, which I think is wasting their time.
Dialysis for me hasn't been smooth sailing for much of the time. I wish my appointments where just for them to tell me I still need dialysis.

Epoman, what do you mean by insurance co-pay?

[Epoman]

Must be different over here. The doctors don't see patients in centre unless its needed. We all have to go and sit in outpatients for hours and hours to see them. Theres too many patients for the amount of doctors, but I guess theres not much you can do when your healthcare system is underfunded. We don't have "centre doctors". I still have to make the trip whoever/wherever I'm seen, as I'm on home dialysis.
We either have to wait until we have an appointment, or if somethings wrong we either go to emergency or if not an emergency the home training centre will try get a doctor down to see us there if there is one around.
Personally, I use my appointments for getting scripts, going through blood results, and raising any concerns I have. Those on nocturnal also see the doctor running the study every 2 months for a couple of things that are part of the study. If I didn't have regular appointments, I would be hassling the nurses to get my scripts written up, which I think is wasting their time.
Dialysis for me hasn't been smooth sailing for much of the time. I wish my appointments where just for them to tell me I still need dialysis.

Epoman, what do you mean by insurance co-pay?

By co-pay I mean when I visit a doctor at the hospital or his office, I pay a $5.00 co-pay, In the U.S.A. depending on the carrier, the co-pay (if any) can range from $5.00 to $25.00 this is very common with HMO's.

Plus you are on home dialysis, so I can see you having regular appointments. Me personally I try to avoid the doctors office as much as possible.

[Panda_9]

All my appointments and tests are free. All I have to pay for is my medications 

[Naggy6]

I can't complain too much about the doctors in my unit. From what I've read here in comparison my dr. is pretty good. There is usually a dr. that rounds every treatment and checks on us if we have a problem he is good about listening. They actually even take the time to ask me about my life out side of the unit. Usually the dr. making rounds is a renal fellow then one day a week the big guy comes around.

I just hate when you just seem to get a new fellow broken in and they change to a new one again.

Most of them are OK but then you get some new guy that thinks he knows more than you, who has been living with this for a life time. If that happens I tell them when they have had to sit in this seat and hook up to a machine to keep them alive then they can tell me what's it's like.

For the longest time I had trouble with my blood pressure and the dr. at the time just kept saying I needed to take off more fluid I told him he was wrong and that maybe the problem was the transplanted kidney that now doesn't work. The wouldn't listen no matter what.

Well I have since had another transplant, they removed the kidney that I said was the problem to put in the new one. Well what do you know I haven't had a blood pressure problem ever since even though I lost the new kidney. I pointed this out to the dr., he listens to me a lot better now.

[Panda_9]

Naggy, my old transplant kidney was making me quite ill as well. Took a while before they figured out what is was. But once I got it out I felt heaps better.

[kitkatz]

I am off to the nephrologist on the 20th.  He should okay me for transplant then off to Loma Linda again to see if they will approve me for listing.  Good grief. This time if I am refused to be listed I am giving up on transplant.  God is just going to have to work it out for me this time, if not then it is not meant to be.

Katherine

[livecam]

I saw my HMO neph about every 3 months and saw the incenter nephs at dialysis one to three times per week just depending on how often they came through.  The nephs at my center were the majority owners so they gave the patients alot of attention.  I can still remember them asking if I wanted prescriptions for anything as they made their rounds.  Looking back at that all it was a pretty decent situation.

[angieskidney]

Noooo you still should be having regular check ups. I go once every 2 months. I think it was every 3 months when I was on PD.

Check ups for what?  If you're on dialysis, the dialysis centers doctor can help you and answer your questions. Save yourself the trip. It's not necessary. What's he going to tell you:

"I hate to tell you this but you still need dialysis, sorry" 

Going to a Neph, regularly is a big waste of time and insurance co-pay. If you have a problem tell the centers doctor and he can make an appointment for a specialist if you need it.

- Epoman

I hate to disagree with you there Epoman, but as a site leader you shouldn't be telling people to stop seeing their doctors. Maybe I misunderstood but if I am seeing it this way others may too. My point is that not all the people at this site are on American dialysis. In my country you should see your Nephrologist regularly because we don't have techs but the nurses do everything in clinic and the Nephrologists are the ones who prescribe your drugs. Infact, even when I go to my Family Physician he won't even give me drugs because he says, "You are a kidney patient so I don't know what you can have! Check with your Nephrologist!" and I tell him my Neph tells me that if it is something that has nothing to do with kidneys to not go to him ... I had to have them call each other and confirm things before I could get anything for a severe back pain I had.

When ever I suggest things online I always end it with saying "always check with your doctor". Maybe that is not your Nephrologist but I have learned that you can't just solely go with what ever you learn online because you should always double check.

In my case, I had to go for monthly appointments when on PD but ever since HD they come to the dialysis unit once a month like clock work exactly 1 week afer bloodwork day. 

[Duane]

My Neph is cool and looks out for everyones best interest.
Here is a pic of my neph. Dr Agra.

[thegrammalady]

my neph sees me in center 2 to 3 times a month. there is a center doctor, or so i hear, but in 16month i have never seen him. when i visit my parents i'm assigned a doctor at the center there. he actually stopped by to meet me and say hello. but really doesn't need to do anything because i'm stable. but he is there and has records from my neph here in case there are problems.

[goofynina]

My Neph is cool and looks out for everyones best interest.
Here is a pic of my neph. Dr Agra.

Duane, please tell me his first name isnt "Vi"     lol, j/k, sorry, bad joke    (oh come on, you know you all were thinking the same thing)

[Duane]

Dr Dean Agra, from OSU, go bucks

[Sara]

"Vi Agra"    Good one.

[Ohio Buckeye]

Yes, go Bucks!!!!!!!!!!  always!

[pierrat]

My nephs pretty cool, he is in a wheelchair as well, not sure why, never asked. He is probably the best doctor I have, the rest for the most part are just to in love with themselves to care about anyone else. Maybe its because he's in a wheelchair that makes him more approachable than others.

[livecam]

My nephs pretty cool, he is in a wheelchair as well, not sure why, never asked. He is probably the best doctor I have, the rest for the most part are just to in love with themselves to care about anyone else. Maybe its because he's in a wheelchair that makes him more approachable than others.

Your guy sounds like my primary neph.  He isn't a very big guy, you could easily call him slight in appearance.  On several visits he was in a large neck brace and found it hard to get around the exam room.  It turns out that while falling, a large patient grabbed him and brought both of them to the floor.  My doc ended up with a variation of a broken neck that required a delicate surgery to correct.  He was obviously messed up for a period of time but took only a minimal amount of time off work for the surgery and a quick recuperation before getting back to seeing patients.  Some doctors aren't in it for the money or the glory, they really like helping people and really like their jobs. 

[keefer51]

I have three nephrologist. The older one seems to run everything. The other two really look like they are 17. Our docs. come by every Wednesday on all three shifts. The Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday people the doc. comes on Tuesday. They spend between one to ten minutes with each patient. At that time he usually asks if you need any scripts or if everything is ok. I like these guys they can be very thorough. It took awhile with the young ones. My center has many about 80% elderly. So these guys really loved me. I mean what can you say when someone is standing over you asking you how you feel? Got a couple of hours pal?

[Rerun]

I asked mine about my Lipitor.  Should I still be on it.  They put me on it YEARS ago when I had my transplant.  She looked puzzled and said we'd check my cholesterol.  So, they didn't.  And they didn't believe me that she had requested it and had to "call" her (I hate that).  So they called the lab and they still had some of my blood?  OK so I get the results and it is 114.  NOW you tell me why I'm paying this lady $500 a month? 

She said I could stop but to get it rechecked in 2 months.  Hmmmm I wonder who will remember that?

[BigSky]

I asked mine about my Lipitor.  Should I still be on it.  They put me on it YEARS ago when I had my transplant.  She looked puzzled and said we'd check my cholesterol.  So, they didn't.  And they didn't believe me that she had requested it and had to "call" her (I hate that).  So they called the lab and they still had some of my blood?  OK so I get the results and it is 114.  NOW you tell me why I'm paying this lady $500 a month? 

She said I could stop but to get it rechecked in 2 months.  Hmmmm I wonder who will remember that?

Cmon You know you like taking those extra pills for nothing.