Kidney failure misc.

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

I'm new to the group. I'm the primary healthcare advocate for my

elderly father, and am very frustrated with his doctors. He has low

kidney function--fluctuates from 10% to 14%. They've been

recommending dialysis for some time, despite the fact that he hadn't

had any of the telltale symptoms of serious kidney failure until

recently, and I know what led up to it: We have a new live-in aide

for him the last 6 weeks, and I suspected she'd been giving him too

many fluids. His restriction is 1000 CCs (4 8oz cups) per day.

Every time I turned around, she was giving him a cup of fluid, and

lots of soup. He consumes whatever is put in front of him, and is

not cognizant enough of his health issues to keep track of what's

going on himself. I talked to the aide about it, but she was very

defensive. Then one morning last week, I watched as she made him

oatmeal with 2 cups of milk, gave him a cup of tea, and a cup of

water. So there you have it--his entire daily allowance in a half

hour. There's also a communication gap as her English is

rudimentary. This is going to be addressed soon, but meantime, we

now have a problem.

 

Early last week, he was feeling patricularly weak, and eventually was

short of breath for a short period. He's had congestive heart

failure due to fluid retention in the past, so I knew what was

happening. We doubled his Lasix that day. His legs had been swollen

for several days, and that night, I noticed a small blister on one

leg, which I knew was the fluid trying to escape from his leg. This

was the first time this had ever happened, though I'd heard of this

sort of thing. It startled me.

 

I took him to the doctor the next day, who told us to keep his Lasix

doubled for awhile--from 40mg to 80mg. We did that for one day and

then increased it to 100mg because we were fearful of CHF.

 

Although his leg swelling has gone down some (usually good in the

morning), the blisters and " weeping " (oozing) has continued and

worsened. This is freaking me out. The doctor said there's nothing

that can be done about it, but that he should start dialysis. We

have been holding off on dialysis, hoping to find a way to avoid it.

We have been to a doctor who practices " integrated medicine "

(conventional mixed with alternative). He had no suggestions short

of dialysis for the kidney issue, but did put him on a viatmin and

supplement regimen, which seems to help his energy and alertness a

little, but is not helping the problem with the legs or the kidneys.

 

We talked to his nephrologist about a stent to increase bloodflow to

the kidneys, since my father's arteries to the kidneys are clogged,

but he didn't really seem to think stents are a good fix, and was

pushing dialysis instead. He is the head of the nephrology unit at

Winthrop Hospital on Long Island, so I trust his opinion somewhat,

but I've also learned that a doctor's pool of knowledge is limited

and each individual doctor practices only what he knows from his own

experience. So I'm still looking for alternatives, but time is of

the essence at this point.

 

We have an appointment wih another doctor of integrated medicine on

Tuesday, but I'm afraid to wait that long to take action.

 

Does anyone have any experience with leg blisters and " weeping? " I

had asked the doctor if we should put antibacterial ointment on them,

but he said no, do nothing. I'm wondering if they should be cleaned

with alcohol to avoid infection. A couple of them are opened and look

like sores forming, and I'm getting very worried.

 

Also, if anyone has any recommendations to boost kidney function to

avoid dialysis, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

May thanks in advance to those who kindly offer their time and advice.

 

Very best regards and bless you,

 

Dan Nigro