Todd's Journey

The story of my cancer journey

Home » Posts tagged: test result

Update on Creatinine levels

- Posted in The Journey by with comments

When I began the steroid treatment to help my kidneys out, my creatinine level was 298. The normal range for creatinine is between 62 and 102. With age it sometimes can be a bit higher. Clearly a reading of 298 is high, and indicates kidney impairment. After starting the steroid treatment, my first creatinine check (after 10 days) had dropped to 222. A drop of 76 points. Today, my creatinine level is at 177. Another drop of 45 points. They have reduced my steroid dose for the last 3 weeks, each going down by about 50 mg. In reality, with the lower steroid dose, it would probably result in a bit of a lower drop in creatinine. BUT the reality is, the trend shows my creatinine clearly trying to return to close to normal level. All good news. I suspect we will keep up with the Steroid treatment for now.

Update on Creatinine levels

- Posted in Medical Update by with comments

If you have been following my journey, you will know that since starting immunotherapy in January, the level of creatinine (a waste product that is usually expelled through urine) in my blood has been creeping up.

Increases in creatinine indicate your kidneys are not working to their full potential. Higher and higher increases in creatinine could indicate heading toward kidney failure.

The doctors have pretty much ruled out any obstructions in my ureters, or drainage issues with my bladder.

They are now working on stopping my immune system from being in overdrive, and hoping that by slowing down the immune system, my kidneys will function better and get back to a normal level soon.

I have been on Steroid treatment for the past week now, and just had a creatinine test this morning. My creatinine levels have dropped by almost 76 points. This is a significant drop, which means the steroids are working, and my kidney is healing and performing better right now.

I will keep on the Steroid treatments for another month or so, and continue to hope my creatinine levels decrease.

Pelvic and Abdominal Ultra Sound results

- Posted in The Journey by with comments

This morning I went for a scheduled ultrasound as part of the Oncologists investigation into the rise in my creatinine levels.

One of the possible reasons for the rise in creatinine is diminished kidney function due to obstructions in my ureters blocking the flow of urine from my kidney into my bladder. Or my bladder is not draining/emptying fully.

The ultrasound will be able to show how all that is functionning.

The results showed that my bladder was full when I started, and after having gone to the washroom, it was almost completely empty. This means my bladder is functionning properly and draining fully.

The results also showed that my kidneys were normal size, and not inflammed meaning there is no back up of fluid into the kidney.

No other abnormalities were seen or detected during this scan.

This result will help confirm that my creatinine leves are rising most likely due to the immunotherapy itself, which they are now trying to stop by putting me on steroid treatment.

Not out of the woods yet, until my creatinine gets back to normal, but definitely progress being made.