Re: NC Mom...what about the kidneys

[Guest guest]

Hi!

Thank You so much for both of your emails. I appreciate the time you took to

explain this to me. I will share the information with my husband.

He is already a diabetic, and I know that can adversely affect the kidneys

too. We need to try to get it under better control.

The diuretics seem to be a balancing act. I remember from nursing school how

Lasix does drop the Potassium levels, while others were Potassium sparing. I

think he does need regular blood work done. I wish more doctor's offices around

here had labs in their offices, instead of it having to be sent off to Atlanta

and wait on the results. Most use one in Atlanta that picks up the blood & urine

at offices and sends it FedEx. It can take three or four days to get a call back

with results.

I read on here where not everyone gets Albumin IV after a paracentesis. We had

problems once he was getting it IV because it kept causing bubbles in the IV

line. The nurses said they had never had such a hard time with giving it. I know

that if he needs it again, that they will probably have to do another pic line,

since his veins would not take a regular IV.

I need to run and check on him.

Thank You again for all of the support and advice.

abijann <no_reply > wrote:

The liver isn't the only organ that has to be taken into consideration

when it starts to fail...all the other organs are also.

Lets take a look at what is happening to the kidneys. The kidneys

is what control sodium, fluid, potassium in our bodies. It gets

rid of waste products that build up in the body.

Normally, it is able to do this easily. However, now the liver

isn't able to convert the toxins that come to it into a easy form

to get rid of. So now the kidneys are trying to pick up toxins,

of which there is now an abundance in the blood, and remove them.

The kidneys are also trying to regulate the amount of the sodium and

fluid in the body...cirrhosis patients are known to retain way too

much sodium in the blood. They are now using diuretics to force

the sodium out of the body that effects the kidneys. People who

have kidney problems are mostly put on low protein diets and

also low potassium to help the kidneys. As you can see...the

kidneys are trying to take over where the liver isn't able to

do the functions it once did. The kidneys are next in line to

fail. Therefore, all medications has to be adjusted and taken

into consideration to not only help the body with poor liver function

but also to help the kidneys also. It is best to let the doctor

decide all that pertains to his nutrition and his individual health.

------------------------------------

Group Email: livercirrhosissupport

web address:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/livercirrhosissupport/