Kidney problems in children

welcome @CoffeePls

Did the doctors say it was to do with his diabetes? That does seem quite quick if so. Or could there be an unrelated problem they've discovered?

I have no experience of this and no knowledge to offer you, but I wanted to send you love - one parent to another - and let you know that I (and hundreds of others on these boards) will be keeping you, your son and your family in our thoughts.

Someone will be along shortly, I'm sure, to offer what they can in terms of info and support. In the meantime, though it's far from the best of circumstances, welcome to the forum, @CoffeePls - do keep posting updates and questions.

Much love,

Sock x

After rereading your post, here there are reasons not to panic and think something awful is about to happen (though, of course none of this is brilliant news)

1. Letters and phone calls aren't how urgent problems are dealt with.
2. Next week (not this week, today, right now) is also not an emergency response but a "We should find out more" response.
3. The doctors will be quite concerned, particularly after your son's recent DKA, but if they were using long words and giving you leaflets, it would be cause for serious worry.

It's ******, I know, but you've just got to sit tight and hold on for next week. Keep telling yourself that if it was a super-urgent thing, there'd be sirens and blue lights, not letters and phone calls.

Sock x

CoffeePls said:

My son is 14yo. He was diagnosed 20 months ago and while his control was great at first, his hba1c's have been getting progressively worse. His last was 11. He was admitted with ketoacidosis in late June and has been well controlled again since. After his hospital stay in June, I received a letter stating there were raised levels of (albumin and something else I think) in his urine and bloods. He was retested yesterday (early morning urine and bloods) and I received a phone call today saying the results were worse than previous results and he has to return to hospital next week for more tests. The doctors seem fairly concerned and I was wandering what these results mean and can someone quite healthy develop problems so quickly?

Click to expand...

Hi. I inherited a kidney disease at birth and have had a transplant two a half years ago. I have had my blood test regularly over the decades. I am tested for up to 30 different levels (including albumin) each time I attend a clinic. I can access all my results to date (in the form of tables, graphs all kinds of ways) on a site called Patient View...so I have got pretty used to what the figures mean/can mean. I thought sharing the general info on that site (specifically for renal patients) might be useful :

"Albumin is a protein in human blood - the commonest protein in human blood. It is made in the liver and has a number of important functions. In kidney disease protein may leak into urine causing nephrotic syndrome, in which blood levels of albumin fall. Different methods used to measure albumin mean that different labs can get quite different results for the same samples from patients with kidney diseases. Normal = 35-50 g/litre.

Result
Comments
Below 35
Low levels of albumin are found in various serious illnesses (e.g. infections) that slow down production of albumin by the liver, or in liver disease, in starvation (malnutrition), and if it leaks into the urine in kidney disease - this is called nephrotic syndrome. Low albumin may cause oedema (swelling).
35-50
Normal (some labs say 35-45)
50+
High - may be a sign of dehydration."

To be as clear as I can, we all have albumin in the blood...while a low albumin level in the blood may indicate problems, that level alone does not mean there is kidney disease (the creatinine level is the main arbiter of that - ask the doctor about that level); if the albumin is high, perhaps your son is not drinking enough; even if there are signs of it in leaking into the urine...it is still the creatinine level that would determine a serious issue with the kidneys. To put that in perspective, there are all kinds of problems with kidneys and various rates at which they might deteriorate if...if...that is the problem. The above results comments are aimed at kidney patients...be aware that albumin levels can fluctuate and even small infections can knock it about a bit; it may be something less significant than a renal disease/renal damage. Hopefully, you will know more very soon, I just wanted to give you some info to think about. I hope it is better news than you are expecting...or that meds can be prescribed to help.

I know it's difficult when you're nursing a child and waiting for answers, but please don't google what this could be. I did and I decided not to share the results with you because the doctors are not acting as if this is urgent. When you have more answers, please come back with an update and any questions - there's a huge community of T1 parents here (and all the rest of us) and we have long arms and broad shoulders.

Just don't look anything up until you've got the specifics - it will really just freak you out more. Calm, collected, patient. It's tough, but you'll get through.

x