Last week, I received the best news since my diagnosis. I went in to go see my nephrologist last Thursday afternoon. As I have mentioned before, my kidney is another issue that I have to deal with, even after my chemo, and recently, it's given me more concern than the lymphoma. When I first went in to see my doctor, it was because of stomach issues which turned out to be issues with my kidneys. With further testing, it was determined that the tumor growth had blocked both my kidneys and that the right kidney had permanently failed a long time ago due to the blockage. Therefore, I had been working off of one kidney and when I went in, my nephrologist said I had about 15% function left and I was looking at dialysis. Once I started my treatment, it had improved some and had regained some health to about 35% function, but my main concern now has been what happens post-treatment and I'm in remission-- how much longer can the remaining kidney hold up before I have to start dialysis? The doc already said I wasn't a good candidate for a kidney transplant anymore due to my being a cancer patient, so would I be looking at dialysis for the rest of my life? I had done some research- albeit not a whole lot as I've found, just like my lymphoma, that there is a ton of really negative information out there, but through the National Kidney Foundation, I learned that dialysis is needed when the kidney has about 10% function left. Well, I wasn't all that far from the 10% when I first went in but now at about 35%, what was my long-term outlook? If I'm not a good candidate for a kidney transplant, then what? When my nephrostomy tube is taken out, will the kidney's function get worse? Truth be told, these were the questions that has kept me up at night.

Well, I went in to see him (the same kidney doctor that gave me my diagnosis of lymphoma over email) after he got back from a month long vacation and it was probably one of the best visits I've had to a doctor's office if you can believe that. He said that based on my creatinine levels (which is a measure of how well your kidneys are working) and how they have dramatically gone down over the last few months (it's now at a steady 1.83 from a high of 6.62), he estimated that I had close to 50% kidney function left and assuming that the kidney function will decrease over time at about 1% per year, I was looking at my 70's before I would need dialysis. Well, that was the best piece of news I've heard in 2.5 months!! You can't imagine how relieved I was when I heard that from him! The only caveat he said was that as long as I maintained my strict diet (i.e. no sodium, no friend food, no dairy and avoid foods high in potassium and phosphorus), I'll be just fine. Considering, I'm now 3 months in to my strict diet, I'm just so used to eating a certain way now that I don't think I should have a problem at all maintaining my diet. At the end of the day, it's just better for me in general.

I did ask him, how flexible I could be now that my potassium, phosphorus and sodium levels were now at normal range again- e.g. can I have pho (my favorite Vietnamese noodles), can I eat pizza, sushi, etc. to which he replied, "well, if it's your birthday or a special occasion, then sure, why not" This was really the best news I've heard. It was great to hear that I didn't have to give up everything completely! (I looked on the National Kidney Foundation's website on foods to avoid and it lists beer and ale as beverages to stay away from as they contain high amounts of phoshorus but it didn't list wine on there...)

My nephrologist then asked me if he could write about me as a case study and submit it to some publication. He said in his 20+ years of practicing, he's never encountered a patient whose tumor was so massive that it blocked both of the kidneys. Uh...I guess that makes me special? He said he wouldn't use my name, so I said that was fine. I guess that I should feel honored to be featured and written about.

I'll have to see him post chemo treatment when hopefully by then, the cancer will be in remission, and we'll check on the kidney again and go from there. All in all, it was a great visit and again, it's the best news I've received since my diagnosis. Positive attitude (and a strict diet) certainly goes a long way!