Anyone know about kidney failure in older people?

[ajandjjmum]

DM is 86 and has had heart failure for nearly 20 years. She gets tired very easily, but has built a good life for herself after DF died nearly 10 years ago. She goes out for meals with friends occasionally, plays bridge several times a week, occasionally potters in the garden etc. She lives with us, in a sort of granny flat, so is very independent. What I'm saying, is that although the tests show a really poor heart, and increasingly poor kidney failure, she has a decent quality of life.

For the first time she saw a kidney specialist last week, and was told that at 15%, her kidney function was critical. The last four tests (over say 9 months) have shown this percentage, and she's felt pretty well. The chap was very nice, but very surprised that she hadn't been monitored more closely, as her kidney function has decreased from around 30% to the current level over the past 6 years. Essentially she has to prepare for some type of dialysis, which she will cope with, but I'd be interested to know of any experience anyone has had with their DP.

Thank you for reading!

MY DMs kidney failure was actually the first sign we had that something much more serious was wrong. However going on to dialysis was actually not that bad. DM had it three times a week, and although the day was exhausting, it just became part of the routine, and we all go to know the drivers who picked her up, and the others going for dialysis in the same slot, really well.

DM was picked up Mon, Wed, Fri at around 11.30, travelled to the nearest centre (an hour away for us) and dropped back home around 6. Actual dialysis took 3 - 4 hours, they don't like to do it quicker thought they technically could, because it is harder on the system. If you live nearer a centre I imagine it would be less of a chunk of the day, but she was generally so tired afterwards (she was very ill with something completely different), that she just had something to eat, and went to bed.

DM wasn't mobile, so we always had to be around for her pick up, and return, but I imagine if your DM is mobile, it won't have so much impact on your day.

Some people who were not otherwise ill spent the time watching TV, or DVDs, or reading, but DM tended to doze, or my aunt sat with her.

If it goes that way, it probably won't be nearly as bad as you think. Good luck.

My mother ( 92) has " stage 3 " kidney failure but no one has ever really explained what that means .

Because she has some other problems and because I pushed this is now monitored by blood tests ,but it seems to fluctutate .

I imagine her condition must be less severe than your DM as dialysis not mentioned .

She too has heart failure and takes high doses of diueritics - which I suspect the kidney failure may be linked to .

Not much help ,sorry .
Hope someone else comes along with more info .

Thanks Jenny. Good to hear that your Mum coped with it, and that others found things to do whilst having the treatment. Although a little shocked (partly because she feels so well all things considered), DM seemed keen to consider the DIY version at home. The consultant said that he'd make an appt. for her to come to a clinic in 2/3 months to talk it through, unless they get anything they need to jump on more quickly from the tests they took. They also halved her losartin, which is the drug that they seem to think might be causing the problem.

Apparently Ginger she's at Stage 4, with below 15 being Stage 5, so pretty serious. She's been on a cocktail of drugs for years, and I suppose there's always some compromise. Hope your DM stays well.

Although we've known she had a serious heart problem, she's been living her life and apart from occasional visits to various medical bods, it's not caused too many problems. Just worried that dialysis would change this dramatically.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Hi, my mum had kidney failure. She used to have regular blood tests for her arthritis and her kidneys were fine, then my father died and within the space of a few months she went from good kidneys to kidney failure needing immediate dialysis.We couldnt believe it. She was 68.

We wanted her to do the haemo-dialysis 3 times a week but she refused and went for peritoniel dialysis instead. It meant having a catheter inserted into her tummy to empty and fill special fluid into her tummy. She had to do this 3 or 4 times a day.

We didnt want her to do this as we thought she would forget but actually she was fine. She had to have a special area in the spareroom set up to do the procedure and would get deliveries of about 50 boxes a month, so you need somewhere to store it all. The bags were very heavy.

It did impact on her life in that she couldnt go out for the whole day, or she would have to take her stuff with her if she wanted to stay out. When she was poorly and would be in hospital none of the nurses would know how to do it so we would have to go in and do it for her. It is definately worth knowing how to do it , as my mum used to get uti's and get very confused and so couldnt do it correctly. She never passed urine again after commencing dialysis. She used to go to Ireland on holiday for a month and the company would have all her bags delivered there for her and the ship would provide a room to do her dialysis.

It did get her down , it was an incovenience, but it kept her alive.

Hope this helps.

She used to get very cold and tired - I remember her having the heating on and the fire and still be under a blanket.

That's interesting Plum. We sort of assumed that doing it at home would make it less intrusive on your life, but to be fair, if it's 3/4 times each day, it puts a fair few limitations in place. As you say, no-one would choose it, but it's better than the alternative. I just want to understand as much as I can, so that when she has the next appointment, I have some sensible questions to ask.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

So....a few months on from when I originally posted, everyone seems to be recommending that Mum 'prepares' for peritoniel dialysis. She is still not absolutely comfortable with it - has mentioned phoning Dignitas a few times! - but if the tube gets put into her tummy, at least it will be in place if she does deteriorate quickly.

She still feels pretty well, although she gets tired. But as her consultant said this morning, often people don't realise how unwell they actually feel, until they start the treatment and feel so much better.

Just wish I was less squeamish!!!

If you see this Plum, and if you don't mind me asking, how long did your DM live after starting this treatment?