Understanding the Five Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease and What Each Means for Your Health

And then what would you say, in your opinion, is, let's say, the single most important thing someone can do right now, regardless of what stage they're currently at?

Just talk to your primary care physician first and find out, you know, what your EGFR is, what your creatinine is, how much protein you have in your urine.

And then once you're referred to a nephrologist, we kind of take it from there.

Absolutely.

And I think it's important to mention too, don't wait to see a nephrologist if your stage three B or above early specialist input really changes the outcomes as well.

And then before we do wrap up with the last

question, is there anything that you think our listeners would really benefit from knowing that you may have not been able to mention yet today? Or is there anything that comes to mind that you think you haven't answered specifically with these stages, maybe more of an overall thought process or comment?

Yeah, you know, just because you're diagnosed with CKD at stage three, again, does not mean that you need dialysis or that you're going to die.

I do a lot of counseling on patients, you know, who are diagnosed with stage three, stage four, and they're worried that their life is ending, which is not the case.

Once you're at stage five, And mind you, it does take time to get to stage five.

You have diabetes for over 25, 30 years.

You can still potentially be at stage three, stage four.

But if the diabetes is severely uncontrolled, and your A1C is 11, 12%, you have heart failure, frequently hospitalized, kidney function starts declining if you don't take care of yourself, there's a chance of progressing But if you're overall aware of your chronic medical conditions and you're taking care of yourself, it's very possible to survive, you know, and have a happy life at stage three.

Absolutely.

And I think that that is something that everyone needs.

who may have just been diagnosed should definitely hear.

And you likely just answered this question already, but for someone who did just get a stage number and is sitting with that fear right now, is there anything that you can add on or think that would be important for them to know of what they might need to hear?

Absolutely.

I guess the first thing I would say is don't panic.

You know, as challenging and as fearful as it is for someone to be informed that they have kidney disease, again, being informed of kidney disease does not mean that you need dialysis, because really most patients are fearful of requiring dialysis for survival.

And once again, you'll only get there if you don't take care of yourself.

So don't panic.

Take a deep breath in and speak to your nephrologist.

You're going to be okay.

That's what I would say.