My kidneys were my Achilles' Heel

[RightSide]

When I turned 52 years old, I followed the medical advice I heard on the news about having a physical examination to check how I'm doing.  I specifically requested and got a complete blood count, prostate exam, prostate biopsy, colonoscopy, electrocardiogram, etc.  Except for an enlarged prostate, everything looked OK, blood pressure excellent too.  I really thought I had passed my exam with flying colors.

But the one thing nobody ever bothered to check?  You guessed it!  My renal function.  I'm really angry at my primary care physician for never bothering to check my BUN and creatinine.  I didn't even know about such things, and it was only some months ago that we stumbled on it by accident. I had just developed a touch of osteoarthiritis this year; and just to be safe, my arthritis doctor checked my BUN.  What he found sent me right to a nephrologist--where I got the bad news.

You try and you try to stay healthy, but something gets you in the end.  If it's not cancer it's heart disease or it's renal failure or it's liver failure or it's a brain aneuryism.  No matter how hard you try, something slips by.  It did with me.

[monrein]

Quite right you are...none of us gets out alive and all diseases suck.  ESRD is a serious drag and I'm sorry that you're having to deal with it.  This is the best site for information and support so I'm glad you found us.

[pelagia]

 

[okarol]

Our daughter was given a urine test but they never did a blood test so we wasted months where we could have gotten her help.
Later I found out that the lab test for creatinine is just an $18 test - but no one ever does it unless there's numerous symptoms, and even then they miss it.