Help with lab result interpretations
Posted , 4 users are following.
A little background first: I'm a married 40 year old premenopausal mother of two (19M & 9F). ht 5' wt 135
OK, so at I was at work one morning at the end of August (29) when I started having what I thought at the time were strong menstrual cramps. A couple of my co workers thought it was more likely kidney stones. Within the hour I was doubled over in pain and could barely walk. I had my son give me a ride home and run over to where my husband was working and get him for me. By the time he got to me 5 minutes later i would have had him call an ambulance if i could have formed words but all i could do was scream. I was in the bathtub -half dressed because I thought heat would help, and I didnt want to waste more time with taking off the rest of my clothes. My husband is also thinking kidney stones at this point because he'd had them before. He managed to get me out of the tub and in a towel ,and then almost like magic, the pain subsided. At that point I also started thinking it had to be a kidney stone since ive heard how painful they are and that the pain comes in waves. Mine hadnt completely subsided but it went away enough that i knew i should be getting my butt to the hospital before it came back. But i laid down and slept HARD from exhaustion. When i woke up it had started to come back so my husband took me to the ER. Pain meds, labs, and a cat scan later I learned that it wasnt kidney stones- but something obstruction and i needed to see a urologist straight away after the holiday weekend. They said theyd give me some antibiotics and enough pain meds to make it til then -or they could admit me and i could have my pain managed there. Regardless, what i had would not resolve on its own. i still didnt think it could be anything serious- i had heard obstruction and still pictures kidney stones, so we just went home to wait. It was a horrible wait. Skip to Tuesday - urologist says I have a upj obstruction and its so severe that its probably been at least partially obstructed my whole life. He couldnt believe i hadnt noticed any symptoms prior to this, but i hadnt. Anyway, he puts me on more antibiotics because by this point id had hydronephrosis and a hella kidney infection but he wants another ct scan with contrast before he can figure out a plan. im sent home to wait for my insurance to approve it. 2 days later we were still waiting, and i ran out pain meds and started to feel way sicker so back to the ER we went and THEY ordered the ct scan eith contrast so i didnt have to wait for insurance. They suggested I be admitted so they could start iv antibiotics, and wait to hear back from my dr, but i had to get home to get my daughter to school. I stayed long enough for them to give me 1 round of meds and made sure they sent results to urology. By the next morning I was way more sick and vomiting and i hadnt heard from dr so we went back to ER and they admitted me. i had ivs in both arms pumping me full of round after round of antibiotics and my white count kept doubling. Another urologist from the same office stopped to update me that night and told me theyd wait 1 more night to see if my count started dropping, but they were gonna need to put in a neph tube to drain my kidney and then have surgery after the infection cleared up to fix the obstructed ureter. By this time I didnt care what they did as long as i got some relief. So i had them put the drain in and i was sent home from the hospital to heal and rest. I spent the next month in bed, mostly sleeping. If i got up for any length of time I would get a crushing migraine that lasted 2+days due to my kidney not filtering toxins out fast enough. No work. I felt like I had the flu for a solid month. Then on the 10th of October I finally had surgery. It was a robotic assisted laparoscopic right side complete dismemberment pyeloplasty. (also removed the neph tube and placed a ureter stent) The surgery was supposed to take 2.5 hours. Mine took 5. I was on a pca pump afterwards and stayed in the hospital for 6 days. Immediately following surgery i had severe co2 shoulder pain that subsided after a couple days. I started getting symptoms of a uti aftee my catheter came out, but dr and nurses didnt seem concerned. They just kept saying it was from the stent. I have a patient portal id and once i was home i started looking into my lab results and was blown away that nothing had been mentioned. The day after surgery when they did my last blood draw, my complete cbc diff came back abnormal. Anyway, uti symptoms keep increasing and then I woke up 2 days ago with the worst shoulder and neck pain imaginable. My hubby took me back to the er, and they did more labs and ordered a cat scan. All of the tests say i have a horrible kidney infection/uti. He also said neck and shoulder pain can be referred from the phrenic nerve that is in the kidney area-especially if the kidney is inflamed. He said my neck will stop hurting as the infection clears up. He gave me a script for antibiotics and then scheduled me with my urologist. i went there today and told them all the same symptoms id told the ER and what they said it was. I was then informed by my urologist that its not an infection, its just the stent, and the neck pain is not related to any nerve by my kidney. So who do i believe and should i be concerned? I scream when I pee it hurts so bad and usually nothing really comes out. Less than a test tube full. I can feel the stent but it doesnt seem to be at the center of the pain. I realize having a foreign object in place is going to result in wbcs and rbcs in my urine. i just want to know if anyone can tell me if the amounts in my urine and blood are normal for having a stent in place. And there was a couple other results I'll include that were off as well. i just need someone to help me interpret these results since my dr doesnt even look at them. Do i even need to worry about an infection at this point? Im just so tired of being sick. Another symptom of infection is fever. My body temp averages at 97.3-97.5. So when i hit the 98.6 mark i am feeling low grade fever ill - the same way a person normally at 98.6 feels at 100. My chart has my normal temp listed. yet when i go in and my temp reads 98.8, I am told I am right where im supoosed to be- even when im starting to shiver and show signs of a fever. its very frustrating and makes you feel unheard.
Here are the abnormal results:
Latest CBC Diff-
WBC 22.4 tho/cmm
Immature Granulocytes Absolute, Auto
Your Value
0.04 tho/cmm
Standard Range
0.00 - 0.03 tho/cmm
Platelet Count
Your Value
447 tho/cmm
Standard Range
150 - 400 tho/cmm
Diff Type
Your Value
Auto
Neutrophils %, Auto
Your Value
55.3 %
Standard Range
%
Lymphocytes %
Your Value
29.9 %
Standard Range
%
Monocytes %, Auto
Your Value
11.0 %
Standard Range
%
Eosinophils %, Auto
Your Value
2.8 %
Standard Range
%
Basophils %, Auto
Your Value
0.7 %
Standard Range
%
Immature Granulocytes Absolute, Auto
Your Value
0.04 tho/cmm
Standard Range
0.00 - 0.03 tho/cmm
Complex Metabolic Panel Abnormalities:
Globulin
Your Value
4.5 gm/dL
Standard Range
2.2 - 4.2 gm/dL
AST (SGOT)
Your Value
89 U/L
Standard Range
2 - 35 U/L
ALT (SGPT)
Your Value
77 U/L
Standard Range
0 - 64 U/L
Urinalysis with Microscope abnormalities:
Leukocyte Esterase, Urine.
Your Value
Moderate.Bacteria, Urine
Standard Range. +1
Negative
Protein, Urine. WBCs, Urine
Your Value. Your Value
100 mg/dL. >200/hpf
Standard Range. Standard Range
0 mg/dL.0-5/HPF
Blood, Urine. RBC, Urine
Your Value. Your Value.
Large 50-200/HPF.
Standard Range. Standard Range
Negative. 0-5/HPF
0 likes, 9 replies
angela46352 Kjane79
Posted
Hi there Kjane79 I am so sorry to hear about your awful troubles. I have had several bouts of trapped kidney stones, and i feel your pain. I'm not sure what your obstruction is, but it must feel the same as stone when the kidney can't excrete the urine, it really does hurt. My experience with stents in the ureter were awful. I absolutely hated it. The pain trying to urinate made me scream and curse. Some stents seemed better than others. With the first one my urine was so red with blood it was like red wine colour. The docs didn't seem too bothered about this! Even though i was so scared. I suppose they just think it's to be expected if there has been a lot of trauma inside you. I had two 9mm stones stuck side by side at the time.
All I can do is reassure you that once this is all over; everything can (and hopefully for you too) get back to feeling normal again. I can confirm stents were terrible; I had to rest all the time, I bled a lot in my urine and peeing was absolute hell!
I do hope you can get them or it out soon. As I said some definitely seemed more bearable than others for some reason? Maybe the positioning or the size of the stent used?
Good luck my main pain relief was Voltarol suppositories or diclofenac sodium I think its called. I am in the UK though. It's an anti-inflammatory but I know not suitable for everyone, but was my life saver when the renal pain was really bad from the stones. Probably not for continual stent pain though? I think they gave me a muscle? relaxant for that. I did need it for after stent removal on occasion though, as pulling the stent out started my pain off again. I found asking the doc to tell you to cough as he takes it out really helped me!
Good luck and all the best to you.
Angela
Kjane79 angela46352
Posted
The name of what i had was a uoj obstruction. my ureter on my right kidney had sort of collapsed i to itself snd kinked up- its usually diagnosed before birth, but 40 years ago they didnt have the equipment they do now. So, basically they said my ureter had become more and more kinked and twisted til no more urine could get through and i got hydronephrosis as a result and a grossly misshapen kidney. Im so sorry you have had to go through all those kidney stones. i cant imagine the pain of what that was like. i scream now just passing urine, so that must be 80 million times worse. Hopefully you dont have to go through it ever again!! Fingers crossed!
angela46352 Kjane79
Posted
Thank you so do I!! Apparently drinking real lemon juice in water helps dissolve my type of stone.
I hope you get sorted out soon. I feel for you. I understand now what is causing yours, thank you for explaining. I hope you find the answers soon.
All the best
Angela
sarah87162 Kjane79
Posted
Sorry but I have no medical knowledge so cannot interpret your results I do not understand them.
All I can do is to tell you my story and hope it helps.
2017 was a year of constant UTI's and being referred to 5 different urologists regarding treatment for my kidney stones. I had to make several trips to A nd E in Abergavenny because of the pain. There was blood in my urine.
I was a complicated case because I was born with horseshoe kidneys (they are joined together) which meant access was a lot more difficult.
Finally in December 2017 a consultant urologist at Bristol agreed to operate and removed the stones by pcnl surgery. He is worth his weight in gold!!!
I am now fine.
Kjane79 sarah87162
Posted
oh my goodness! That sounds terrible as well. I hope you continue healing and stay healthy! This kidney crap is no fun!
Kjane79
Posted
maybe screenshots of the lab results would be easier to read. i didn't copy and paste very well.
chris34446 Kjane79
Posted
who is your medical insurance through
Kjane79 chris34446
Posted
I currently have Wellcare of Nebraska. I think its just a fancy name for Medicaid, but thats who they gave me when i filled out all the info during signup on the market. I was working as a server prior to this and making less than minimum wage so it makes sense. My husband has been decreasing his workload to try to help deal with sky high blood pressure. side note: he got admitted to the cardiac floor while i was still in the hospital recovering from this last surgery. Anyway, my point was to try to construe that im not abusing the system. We both work. Life is just hard sometimes and some of us need a little help now and then. Hopefully soon i can get back to work and pick up the slack so my hubby can rest his heart and get healthy. Thanks for your help! r
chris34446 Kjane79
Posted
i truly understand what you mean the reason i ask is because sometimes they will just try to push you away lets face it health care is all about the money and the treatment you get stems from how much your insurance is willing to cover. its ok to ask for a second opinion and its ok to do research. when i had my bouts with kidney stones i was in transition from job to job and had a gap in insurance. so i went to kaiser got the test done dr said you need surgery wait for your new insurance to kick in and tell them to do the procedure. insurance kicked in and it still took my provider 3 months to approve surgery even though i knew that from day 1 i was going to need it. they will push you off push you off until finaly they have no choice but to help you. if your not in a dieing need they will ease your symptoms and wait for it to get worse. my best advice is do your research even though you may not be a dr its ok to study and go in to your next appointment confident and demand that they take care of this issue. we tend to go the drs and just listen to what they say without defending out health. idk how your health ate works but they even put a 15min time limit on my apts healthcare sucks. as far as kidney health goes id recommend staying away from coffee and dark sodas try to up your fruits and vegetable intake, for bad uti azo works great you can get that over the counter and it takes the burn and bladder pain away. ice the kidneys when they hurt real bad and when you have a blockage demand flomax and pain meds. i have used cbd and that has also worked but im in california and the laws allow it here.