Link between surgery &kidney disease?

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My pre-assessment before surgery on 22nd September showed that numbers for kidney function were slightly lower than normal. Bloods were done again in 2 months and iit had dropped to stage 3b chronic kidney disease. I was told that they'd never seen such a drastic drop so it was likely to have been caused by trauma from cancer/surgery. I've now had 2 further tests which also showed stage 3b so I now have had official diagnosis placed on my medical records.

I would normally have been placed on medication straight away. As my situation is unusual, they held  2 meetings about this and have delayed medication.  Bloods again in 2 months as they are hoping there's still a chance of improvement.

Has anyone else had this experience?

  • The surgery shouldn't have caused it unless your kidneys were already very stressed, which your pre-surgery values may have been starting to show at that time (although slightly lower than normal is not an alarm bell.) Were you on any systemic treatment prior to surgery? Without seeing your blood test results over time and especially around any systemic treatment there is no way to know if there was any prior indication that you could have been at a greater risk and what actually happened. Your kidney specialist should be able to go over this and tell you. That said, sometimes it can be a little like standing right on the edge of a cliff in complete darkness and not knowing until you take a step forward and there is nothing there but air.

  • Thanks for reply GreyCats. No previous issues with kidneys. Aside from Tamoxifen, I'm on simvastatin and Adcal D3. After the first test after surgery they looked at Adcal and tested for calcium levels, pyro thyroid and a few others I can't remember. All results were normal. I'm on Afcal as I'm coeliac

    All urine tests have also been normal.

  • Thanks, Walker1957. Where it comes to what might have caused the kidney issue I still think it's best to ask the specialist, as they have all the relevant data. It can sometimes be a little tricky getting them to really answer questions (there have been occasions where I had to insist and ask repeatedly before I got a real, informative answer) but if you decide to do it, it may shed more light on the chain of events.

    I hope things do improve, and that your next set of blood tests brings very good news!

  • Thanks GreyCats. she's still thinking that in some way it's been caused by trauma but that'll be reassessed after next bloods and urine test. in March. I'll let you know how that goes.