Symptoms To Look Out For With CKD

I know that I can pick myself up time and time again after bouts of illness, with a smile on my face, a positive attitude, and the determination to keep trying and never give up.

CKD can be hard to detect early

When it comes to chronic kidney disease, it is usually undetectable until it gets into a more serious stage of deterioration. Some people are lucky enough to get an early detection, but my son wasn’t.

Most people stay unaware of their chronic kidney disease until it gets into a more serious situation heading toward renal dysfunction that could only be treated by limited options of treatment.

Finding out about CKD accidentally

My son accidentally got to know about his kidney disease due to some symptoms with swelling in his legs that landed him in the hospital. His sleep quality was not really great and with that and he was losing weight excessively, which was alarming. He was overweight but wasn’t trying to lose any weight. He found the culprit while in the hospital.

After the doctor ran some detailed tests run on him, he got to know that he was on his way to developing chronic kidney disease. It was a shock but obviously, his body was not feeling up to the mark lately. He needed to urinate excessively, especially at night. This is one of the major reasons for being unable to sleep peacefully at night.

Controlling his CKD

Since it was not yet too late to be treated, although the risk was high. My doctor put him on medication to halt the progression of the damage. But he had to be more than careful about his body, to say the least.

His kidneys were like a stress magnet and they could not afford to take any more stress, anxiety, and fears. I know it is something unavoidable, but it was like feeding his disease, so it had to be controlled. He had to focus more on things that made him happy, like family and friends.

He loves working on different projects and creating something out of nothing. I like that he has started indulging in activities that gave him hope and happiness. Taking care of his diet and liquid intake is a top thing to do of course.

Finding things for self-care

Something we both learned together from his physical condition and all the treatment he was going through, is to find avenues where you can express your thoughts, emotions, and many feelings. He spends time at his kids’ school and finds solace in that.  He gets to share his journey with people he has met along the way.

We both try to be part of many community work campaigns to promote awareness and to ask for early testing so that nothing goes undetected. We need to start catching this before it reaches the point of being the worst-case scenario.

You are not alone

As for myself, I also see a kidney doctor yearly for early testing.  I feel more in control by advocating and letting people know they are not alone in this journey. The only way to early detection of chronic kidney disease is through regular checkups and testing. This is what I have learned from my experience.