My urologist had told me that the time would come when I would need a CT scan with contrast but I wasn’t expecting that time for another six months. My GP is suggesting a CT scan with contrast for an issue not necessarily related to my kidney cancer. He has advised me of the risks to my remaining kidney, risks I was already aware of. He tells me that he spoke with a radiologist who said that contrast is not dangerous to the kidney if the kidney is “normal.” Normal being defined as a GFR over 60. He wants me to have another blood test to see if, hopefully, the GFR has gone up since my last one just a few weeks ago. I don’t have a lot of hope for that since my last reading was 56 and prior to that it had fluctuated for the last 19 months between 47 and 56. He will be consulting with my urologist and nephrologist next week and is expecting a decision from me. I think I have no choice but to do it, but there are a few things I need to have straight in my mind before I make that decision.
1. Has anyone who has had a radical nephrectomy had his/her GFR readings return to what they were before surgery? I am thinking that generally speaking the younger folks might say yes to this and the older folks might say no. It would be very helpful to know that an older person had his/her readings go back to normal.
2. If your GFR readings declined after a radical nephrectomy and did NOT go back to normal, how big of a drop was there in the readings? Mine started out over 90 and is now 56. Anybody have similar results?
3. Has anyone who has had a CT with contrast since their radical nephrectomy noticed that their GFR readings went down temporarily or permanently and can attribute that drop to the contrast?
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Mike
http://csn.cancer.org/node/237367
Still confused about Creatinine andGFR
This is a quote from the National Kidney Foundation website in answer to a question from somebody whose creatinine level was 1.58:
“A creatinine level of 1.58 may be normal after removal of one kidney, especially if you are over 50 years of age. Removing one kidney always results in a decrease in total kidney function and an elevation in the creatinine test.” Notice the “always.”
From MedicineNet.com:
“A person with only one kidney may have a normal level of about 1.8 or 1.9.” Notice the “normal.”
My levels were normal before my radical nephrectomy and went bad immediately afterwards. The above statements pretty much jibe with what my urologist told me — that my creatinine readings (currently 1.5) and GFR readings (currently 47) are normal for somebody with one kidney. Yet my nephrologist tells me I have chronic kidney disease (CKD), Stage 3. He is not “alarmed” but of course I am. I told the nephrologist what my urologist said and what I had read online and he said, “oh yes, that’s true.” But he still diagnosed me as having CKD and has ordered more blood tests at the end of July, which I don’t have a problem with. As a matter of fact, I like being monitored this closely. But of course, I am confused. I plan to discuss this with my urologist in my second followup visit in August.
Thank you, Iceman, for sharing your results in my previous posting but I’d like to know how others’ blood tests have gone since their surgeries. If you don’t mind, may I ask who else has had high creatinine/low GFR readings? And if so, have you been told you have “chronickidney disease?” Or have you been told that this is normal for your situation and nothing really to worry about?
Thanks.
Mike
Patient Harm & Abuse Reporting Project Trial 