creatinine post surgery

Liora4queen
Liora4queen Member Posts: 22
in Kidney Cancer #1
Hi,
I had my surgery (lap.partial)on wednesday (12/7/12)and was released friday night.
I was released with a drain intact because the surgeon said that I still had a little fluid in the surgical area and that my creatinine level was 1.5
I was totally loopy from the meds and didnt really understand what was going on.
Does anyone know what that means? I am an otherwise healthy 36yr old female with normal blood pressure etc.
Thanks all,
Liora

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    Kidney function
    Liora,

    As a result of having less than 2 functioning kidneys our urine and blood tests are sometimes outside of the range of the normal population on certain tests. Your creatine while slightly abnormal at 1.5 from what I understand is more or less normal for the club. Discuss this with your urologist and if possible also consult with a nephrologist for long term kidney monitoing.

    Years ago I was playing phone tag with my GP who kept calling to tell me about my abnormal creatine results. Finally when he told me I said I already discussed those numbers with my Urologist who advised that because of 1 kidney my Creatine numbers are outside the normanl range. I believe my numbers were in the 1.5-1.7 range. You will also find that your GFR which measures kidney function is outside the normal range as well..

    For now these numbers should not concern you. Take it from someone who shares these numbers.

    By the way, check the date on your surgery.

    Best wishes,

    Icemantoo
  • Liora4queen
    Liora4queen Member Posts: 22
    #3
    icemantoo said:

    Kidney function
    Liora,

    As a result of having less than 2 functioning kidneys our urine and blood tests are sometimes outside of the range of the normal population on certain tests. Your creatine while slightly abnormal at 1.5 from what I understand is more or less normal for the club. Discuss this with your urologist and if possible also consult with a nephrologist for long term kidney monitoing.

    Years ago I was playing phone tag with my GP who kept calling to tell me about my abnormal creatine results. Finally when he told me I said I already discussed those numbers with my Urologist who advised that because of 1 kidney my Creatine numbers are outside the normanl range. I believe my numbers were in the 1.5-1.7 range. You will also find that your GFR which measures kidney function is outside the normal range as well..

    For now these numbers should not concern you. Take it from someone who shares these numbers.

    By the way, check the date on your surgery.

    Best wishes,

    Icemantoo

    Thanks Icemantoo
    First off -
    Thanks Icemantoo
    First off - thanks for giving me a laugh about myself re my surgery date. I said that I WAS loopy from the drugs and apparently still am!
    More importantly, thanks for the useful info. I'll see the surgeon in a couple of days and now have a couple more questions to ask.
    As always, I'm glad I asked here first.
    G'night
    Liora
  • jhsu
    jhsu Member Posts: 80
    #4
    Creatinine level
    I'm 52 years old, male. My Cre has been in 1.4 ~ 1.5 also. Can others share their numbers?

    Thanks,
    Jon
  • garym
    garym Member Posts: 1,647
    #5
    jhsu said:

    Creatinine level
    I'm 52 years old, male. My Cre has been in 1.4 ~ 1.5 also. Can others share their numbers?

    Thanks,
    Jon

    Creatinine level...
    My creatinine has been between 1.4 and 1.5 since surgery 2 years ago. My doc said normal for a person with two healthy kidneys is 1.0 and for a person with only one kidney 1.5 is the new "normal". Just a guess, but following a partial, once the kidney heals completely, you should stabilize somewhere in between, at least that seems logical to me.

    Gary
  • AMichael50
    AMichael50 Member Posts: 18
    #6
    garym said:

    Creatinine level...
    My creatinine has been between 1.4 and 1.5 since surgery 2 years ago. My doc said normal for a person with two healthy kidneys is 1.0 and for a person with only one kidney 1.5 is the new "normal". Just a guess, but following a partial, once the kidney heals completely, you should stabilize somewhere in between, at least that seems logical to me.

    Gary

    Creatinine Level
    I'm 53 year old male. Mine has been in the area of 1.5 to 1.6 since my surgery 2.5 years ago. I know with these numbers they wont give me contrast dye during my semi annual CT scans.
  • Liora4queen
    Liora4queen Member Posts: 22
    #7
    garym said:

    Creatinine level...
    My creatinine has been between 1.4 and 1.5 since surgery 2 years ago. My doc said normal for a person with two healthy kidneys is 1.0 and for a person with only one kidney 1.5 is the new "normal". Just a guess, but following a partial, once the kidney heals completely, you should stabilize somewhere in between, at least that seems logical to me.

    Gary

    Thanks Gary & Jon,
    It seems
    Thanks Gary & Jon,
    It seems that there are still some aspects of my new reality to get used to. I'm lucky to still have between 80 to 90 percent of my right kidney remaining.
    I plan to take care of whatever remains like a little baby!
    Liora
  • MikeK703
    MikeK703 Member Posts: 235
    #8
    Liora4queen said:

    Thanks Gary & Jon,
    It seems
    Thanks Gary & Jon,
    It seems that there are still some aspects of my new reality to get used to. I'm lucky to still have between 80 to 90 percent of my right kidney remaining.
    I plan to take care of whatever remains like a little baby!
    Liora

    Creatinine
    Hi Liora,
    I'm 64 and before my surgery my creatinine level was .8. Immediately afterwards, it was 1.4. I've had several blood tests since then and it has gone as high as 1.5 and the last one was 1.3. I just had another and am awaiting the results. My urologist has told me my levels are normal for somebody who has had a kidney removed. My nephrologist diagnosed me as having Chronic Kidney Disease because of the high creatinine/low GFR readings. This had me worried for awhile. But my urologist insisted the levels were okay and that I don't have chronic kidney disease. The two talked and the nephrologist eventually explained the diagnosis was a formality based on a chart they use and is primarily so my record will alert other doctors to my condition when they prescribe medications. The nephrologist wants to see me every 3 months for a while to make sure the levels remain stable. As long as they do, he said, there's nothing to worry about. Just make sure you watch your blood pressure (cut down on salt) and do anything else your doctor recommends regarding diet. Good luck.

    For those who have high blood pressure, believe it or not cutting down on salt really works. I have been off my blood pressure medication for about 6 weeks now. In fact, I occasionally have to take in some extra salt because my readings get too low. That's when it's pizza time!

    Mike
  • garym
    garym Member Posts: 1,647
    #9
    MikeK703 said:

    Creatinine
    Hi Liora,
    I'm 64 and before my surgery my creatinine level was .8. Immediately afterwards, it was 1.4. I've had several blood tests since then and it has gone as high as 1.5 and the last one was 1.3. I just had another and am awaiting the results. My urologist has told me my levels are normal for somebody who has had a kidney removed. My nephrologist diagnosed me as having Chronic Kidney Disease because of the high creatinine/low GFR readings. This had me worried for awhile. But my urologist insisted the levels were okay and that I don't have chronic kidney disease. The two talked and the nephrologist eventually explained the diagnosis was a formality based on a chart they use and is primarily so my record will alert other doctors to my condition when they prescribe medications. The nephrologist wants to see me every 3 months for a while to make sure the levels remain stable. As long as they do, he said, there's nothing to worry about. Just make sure you watch your blood pressure (cut down on salt) and do anything else your doctor recommends regarding diet. Good luck.

    For those who have high blood pressure, believe it or not cutting down on salt really works. I have been off my blood pressure medication for about 6 weeks now. In fact, I occasionally have to take in some extra salt because my readings get too low. That's when it's pizza time!

    Mike

    BP...
    Hi Mike,

    Just curious,what does your doc consider high for guys our age with one kidney? I check mine weekly and it runs about 135/82, my doc says anything around 130/80 is fine, but that is higher than I am used to. I haven't been on any meds for it since several months before surgery 2 years ago, thanks to diet and exercise. Wondering how we compare.

    Thanks,

    Gary
  • MikeK703
    MikeK703 Member Posts: 235
    #10
    garym said:

    BP...
    Hi Mike,

    Just curious,what does your doc consider high for guys our age with one kidney? I check mine weekly and it runs about 135/82, my doc says anything around 130/80 is fine, but that is higher than I am used to. I haven't been on any meds for it since several months before surgery 2 years ago, thanks to diet and exercise. Wondering how we compare.

    Thanks,

    Gary

    BP
    Hi Gary,
    My nephrologist has my desired average goal as 130/80 also. I have been averaging lower than that. I've had a funny problem for the past 6 weeks, which is starting to go away on its own though, and that is my BP is dramatically different in three positions -- lying down, sitting, and standing. My standing BP was so low with medication that I was getting dizzy. That's why they took me off the BP medication. Dr. said I did too good a job of lowering sodium intake. The three-position problem evidently is a side effect of the medication. Standing was as low as 82 over 58 a few times. Since I got off the pill the standing is now around 105 over 65. Sitting and lying down are getting closer to each other -- around 115 over 75. My highest readings are always when I wake up in the morning. I check my blood pressure if I wake up in the night, around 1 or 2 a.m. and it is around 120/80 lying down but when I wake up at 6 a.m. it's sometimes in the 140s over high 80s. My internist says that blood pressure normally does go up when we're sleeping. I haven't discussed this with my nephrologist yet but have an appointment with him next week.
    Regards,
    Mike
  • Liora4queen
    Liora4queen Member Posts: 22
    #11
    MikeK703 said:

    BP
    Hi Gary,
    My nephrologist has my desired average goal as 130/80 also. I have been averaging lower than that. I've had a funny problem for the past 6 weeks, which is starting to go away on its own though, and that is my BP is dramatically different in three positions -- lying down, sitting, and standing. My standing BP was so low with medication that I was getting dizzy. That's why they took me off the BP medication. Dr. said I did too good a job of lowering sodium intake. The three-position problem evidently is a side effect of the medication. Standing was as low as 82 over 58 a few times. Since I got off the pill the standing is now around 105 over 65. Sitting and lying down are getting closer to each other -- around 115 over 75. My highest readings are always when I wake up in the morning. I check my blood pressure if I wake up in the night, around 1 or 2 a.m. and it is around 120/80 lying down but when I wake up at 6 a.m. it's sometimes in the 140s over high 80s. My internist says that blood pressure normally does go up when we're sleeping. I haven't discussed this with my nephrologist yet but have an appointment with him next week.
    Regards,
    Mike

    Mike
    I have the same condition - orthostatic hypotension - where you feel faint or dizzy when standing from a seated or reclined position.
    I've noticed it for a while and then when I went for my presurgical testing a few weeks ago, I mentioned it to the nurse. He was really thorough and did the same test on me that you described.
    I think that there can be many causes of that condition - anemia is one, which may be the cause of mine as I dont take any medication and my BP is usually pretty unremarkable.
  • jhsu
    jhsu Member Posts: 80
    #12
    MikeK703 said:

    Creatinine
    Hi Liora,
    I'm 64 and before my surgery my creatinine level was .8. Immediately afterwards, it was 1.4. I've had several blood tests since then and it has gone as high as 1.5 and the last one was 1.3. I just had another and am awaiting the results. My urologist has told me my levels are normal for somebody who has had a kidney removed. My nephrologist diagnosed me as having Chronic Kidney Disease because of the high creatinine/low GFR readings. This had me worried for awhile. But my urologist insisted the levels were okay and that I don't have chronic kidney disease. The two talked and the nephrologist eventually explained the diagnosis was a formality based on a chart they use and is primarily so my record will alert other doctors to my condition when they prescribe medications. The nephrologist wants to see me every 3 months for a while to make sure the levels remain stable. As long as they do, he said, there's nothing to worry about. Just make sure you watch your blood pressure (cut down on salt) and do anything else your doctor recommends regarding diet. Good luck.

    For those who have high blood pressure, believe it or not cutting down on salt really works. I have been off my blood pressure medication for about 6 weeks now. In fact, I occasionally have to take in some extra salt because my readings get too low. That's when it's pizza time!

    Mike

    One Kidney Creatinine
    I'm wondering if there're any studies or published papers on this subject?

    Jon
  • garym
    garym Member Posts: 1,647
    #13
    MikeK703 said:

    BP
    Hi Gary,
    My nephrologist has my desired average goal as 130/80 also. I have been averaging lower than that. I've had a funny problem for the past 6 weeks, which is starting to go away on its own though, and that is my BP is dramatically different in three positions -- lying down, sitting, and standing. My standing BP was so low with medication that I was getting dizzy. That's why they took me off the BP medication. Dr. said I did too good a job of lowering sodium intake. The three-position problem evidently is a side effect of the medication. Standing was as low as 82 over 58 a few times. Since I got off the pill the standing is now around 105 over 65. Sitting and lying down are getting closer to each other -- around 115 over 75. My highest readings are always when I wake up in the morning. I check my blood pressure if I wake up in the night, around 1 or 2 a.m. and it is around 120/80 lying down but when I wake up at 6 a.m. it's sometimes in the 140s over high 80s. My internist says that blood pressure normally does go up when we're sleeping. I haven't discussed this with my nephrologist yet but have an appointment with him next week.
    Regards,
    Mike

    Thank you...
    Hi Mike,

    As usual your post was very thoughtful and informative. I think I need to step my efforts up a bit.

    I appreciate the response,

    Gary
  • MikeK703
    MikeK703 Member Posts: 235
    #14
    jhsu said:

    One Kidney Creatinine
    I'm wondering if there're any studies or published papers on this subject?

    Jon

    One Kidney Creatinine
    Hi Jon,
    Nothing that I am aware of. The online info I've found seems to indicate that it is "normal" for somebody with one kidney to have a creatinine level of 1.8 or 1.9. My bloodwork results came back today and I went from 1.3 to 1.4, which sent my GFR down to 51 from 56. I was told by the nephrologist that this could easily occur and that it is nothing to worry about. The results are "stable." I would have preferred "improved" but I'll take what I can get.
    Mike
  • MikeK703
    MikeK703 Member Posts: 235
    #15
    Liora4queen said:

    Mike
    I have the same condition - orthostatic hypotension - where you feel faint or dizzy when standing from a seated or reclined position.
    I've noticed it for a while and then when I went for my presurgical testing a few weeks ago, I mentioned it to the nurse. He was really thorough and did the same test on me that you described.
    I think that there can be many causes of that condition - anemia is one, which may be the cause of mine as I dont take any medication and my BP is usually pretty unremarkable.

    Orthostatic hypotension
    Hi Liora,
    I never took my blood pressure standing or lying down before. So my orthostatic hypotension could have existed for at least a couple of years. That's when I started noticing I was getting dizzy after standing up. Unfortunately, my doctor didn't think to test the BP three ways. His assistant did though and that's when the problem was noted. Mine seems to be a side effect of the BP medication. It's slowly improving and my sitting and lying down are a lot closer than they were 6 weeks ago when I got off the pill. My systolic after getting up is still around 20-25 points less than when sitting. Diastolic is around 10-15 points lower. But I only rarely get dizzy since they took me off the pill.
    With one kidney, I'll take low blood pressure over high any day.
    Mike
  • MikeK703
    MikeK703 Member Posts: 235
    #16
    garym said:

    Thank you...
    Hi Mike,

    As usual your post was very thoughtful and informative. I think I need to step my efforts up a bit.

    I appreciate the response,

    Gary

    Sodium
    Hi Gary,
    My new blood pressure readings can be attributed to my low sodium diet. My wife and I now check the labels on everything we buy. I never knew bread had so much sodium. She cooks with no salt now and I only sprinkle a tiny bit on the food to give it some taste. We switched to low sodium frozen french fries, low sodium canned corn (that surprised me!) and a number of other low sodium products. I am probably averaging around 1,500 or less mg of sodium a day. I allow myself a slice of restaurant pizza once a month. My wife makes low-sodium pizza which I sprinkle with hot pepper flakes to give it some kick. (How I miss the pepperoni!) I never paid attention to my salt intake before this and I can only imagine what I was ingesting daily in my pre-solitary kidney days. Over 4,000 mg easy. Heck, one visit to McDonald's is probably that much.
    Mike

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