Stage 5 Kidney Failure
Posted , 4 users are following.
My father has stage 5 renal failure he is 80 years old and today I was advised he is not a good candidate for dialysis. He is not eating and his body is weak he has not been out of bed for a week now. He has heart issues too and the dialysis would possibly not be for him! Although we could try I think we should but I’m not sure what would be best for him! Everyone is different and so far I’ve only got medical advice to go off! Any experience out there?
0 likes, 7 replies
aliceq2 lesley80519
Posted
Hi & Sorry to hear about the condition of your father.
Just sharing our experiences...my FIL too was diagnosed with Stage 5 at 77 and he opted not to go for dialysis.
The drs gave him days, at most weeks since his eGFR was 7 when admitted into hospital. He had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure that led to kidney failure. With prescribed medicines for his condition and diet management...he managed to survived another 5 months before finally passing at palliative care. His last days were quite stressful for all as he started to swell due to edema caused by kidney failure. Mental state of mind is very important....as my FIL had already given up on himself, his down hill was pretty fast.
Just sharing my 2 cents here. Good Luck and take care!
lesley80519 aliceq2
Posted
Hello
Thank you for sharing this with me. Its very useful to have other people's experiences and understand the situation. My father eGFR was 8 but with conservative treatment was 12 yesterday. His mental state is all over the place at the moment from worried, confused, to even anger!.
thank you again
badger_47080 lesley80519
Posted
I'm so sorry to hear about your father. I know exactly how you feel. My mom was 73 and Stage 5 kidney disease with Afib and high blood pressure. I'm not really sure as to why they told you that he did not qualify for dialysis..im confused. It is normal for him to not have an appetite and feel extreme fatigue. My mom was bed rest for 4 months. Did you take him to see a nephrologist? A nephrologist will keep up with his numbers and let you know what you need to do to make him better. Without dialysis be prepared for hospice.
lesley80519 badger_47080
Posted
Thank you
tony78174 lesley80519
Posted
i also want you to know that many specialists will not recommend dialysis for chronic renal failure if the person is stage 5 and over 75 years, there have been many studies done that have proven there is no real benefit to dialysis for a person over 75 years.
i suspect the creatine (protein by product) is building up within your father, and this generally produces a sickly not wanting to eat feeling, talk to a dietician about low protein diet.
lesley80519 tony78174
Posted
Thank you. Im reading that dialysis may not offer my Dad any significant benefit and reading the studies out there. I dont want him to go through some thing enduring that does not offer any benefit. Still right now this is a tough discussion and decision to make!!
I would rather he lives out his days as comfortable as possible and as pain free as he can be.
Thank you
badger_47080 lesley80519
Posted
Lesley,
It was a very tough decision for our family to place my mom in hospice.
Try and get with a palliative team so they can advise you and support you with every move that you make. I had my mom in palliative care and it was awesome. It was the critical condition department. When they took her off of dialysis they specialized in comfort care for her until we knew it was the last week. Please make sure you do your homework on hospice hospitals with reviews. They wanted to give my mom morphine every 30 minutes and she wasn't even in pain. I did not let them give her morphine till we heard the death rattle in her chest and she was having trouble breathing. We knew at this point it was only a matter of hours.