Born with One Kidney...

I went to the doctor on the 16th for a lower right back pain.  My doctor was booked until the end of the week so I just saw the first available doctor.  I was pretty sure it was my kidney, because friday I had a lower UTI and saturday night I was having painful spasms in my side and back that was bringing me to my knees.  When I went to the doctor he noticed that there was a lot of infection in my urine.  He had a CT Scan done to check for any other organs that may be causing the pain.  Well, when the CT Scan was looked at by him he called me saying that there is a lot of infection but there isn't any stones or anything that could be causing any pain other than the infection.  I wanted to see my doctor so I scheduled for the 18th to see my primary doctor.  We sat there and waited for an hour for a nurse to come in and say you'll have to see the doctor you saw on the 16th or another doctor because your primary doctor is booked for today and he was scheduled to leave 30 minutes ago.  So, I talked to the doctor I had already seen.  He said that he wanted me to come back on the 20th to talk about my CT Scan, but he told me then that I was born with only one kidney.  I'm 25 and just found out that I was born with a kidney.  I get to go to a Urologist on the 31st for him to give me more information about my condition.

Is there any kind of questions I should ask the Urologist?  I never thought I would have to go through this, but here I am and I don't even know where to start on asking the Urologist questions.  If anyone can give me some direction in what to ask, then please give me some information.

[cicero28374]

If you had ESRD, dead kidneys, they would transplant one if you are lucky. Being careful with diet and health in general one kidney is plenty. A lot of family members give one away to get the help another family member needs,
Cicero

[VindictiveBunny]

No, I don't have ESRD.  I just found out that I was born with only one kidney.  There is no proof that I have had one cut out, no scar tissue or staples.  I've always been healthy enough that I never had any issues with my urinary tract or anything for that matter.  I think I've been just stressed and really busy (plus gained a lot of weight) lately that it caused me to get a Urinary Tract Infection, but when my pain didn't go away I went to the doctor to find out what was causing my painful spasms in which they did the CT Scan and discovered that I only had one kidney.  

I'm trying to stay stress free, since I have panic attacks it doesn't make it easy, but I want to try and keep my blood pressure down.  The doctor that talked to me about my CT Scan said that the main things I need to be careful with is high blood pressure, high bad cholesterol, salt, and sugar.  And that I need to stay fit and lose a little weight.  

From there I have no idea what to ask or even say when I go see this Urologist.  I'm scared, excited, and nervous.  

[AlwaysShopping]

Two years ago, my 19 year old daughter had ovarian cycts, and when her ob/gyn did a sonogram it was discovered that she had a bicornuate uterus.  As a result, the doctor order a CT scan of her pelvis and abdomen to check for other abnomalities.  The CT results showed that my daughter had 1 kidney.  The doctor said the uterus and kidneys develop at the same time. So, an abnormal uterus usually indicates abnormal kidney development.  One year ago, she had to have her left fallopian tube removed due to it being abnormal and causing pain.  Two weeks ago, she had a kidney stone crushed.  Although she has had many UTI's, the kidney is working great; however, her doctors are careful to monitor her kidney function. Hopefully things will get better for her in the future.

[VindictiveBunny]

Holy crap!!!  I have a bicornuate uterus too!  I didn't find out about my uterus until I had a c-section with my daughter when I was 19.  That's just odd that someone else has the same issues as me.  Does she have anxiety attacks too??  lol.  But I found out about my one kidney because of lower right back pain.  They thought it could be my kidney, but it could've been anything causing my pain.  I've not had a lot of issues with my uterus or kidney stones, yet.  (knock on wood)  I do seem to have bad cramps more than others do.  I wonder what caused the developement of the kidney and uterus to go wrong though.  Could it have been something to do with the mother or something hereditary or just one of those things that happen?

[AlwaysShopping]

I have googled a lot about this issue.  I haven't found any syndrome that this condition is called.  My daughter has had a lot of other problems that are undiagnosed which no doctor we have seems to want to help.  The doctors treat her when she is sick, but are not interested in looking at the whole picture. I am thinking of applying for her to the National Institute of Health hospital for undiagnosed conditions.  If she is accepted as a patient, she will go to Maryland for 5 days of testing with som of the top doctors in the country.  It is totally free and one person may travel with the patient. The application involves a lot of work, so I plan to start after Christmas this year.

During puberty, she went through what was almost a mental breakdown.  She was diagnosed with OCD and depression.  Thank the Lord, she is now off all those meds and seems to be functioning  well.  She does not have menstrual cramps but has a heavy flow each month.  She was put on BC pills to help reduce the number of ovarian cysts and her heavy flow.  The pills have helped.

I was glad to read you had a baby.  Just curious, was your baby full term?  Did you have any unusual problems?  The reason for the questions was that she was told that miscarriage is normal for a bicornuate uterus due to lack of space for fetal development. The reproductive endrocrinologist that removed her fallopian tube said that she may never have a live birth.  Although she has never been pregenant and is not married, she is concerned about the future possibility of motherhood.

As far as the cause of this abnormality, I have no idea.  I haven't read anything that gives a definitive answer.  One of our doctors said it was heredity.  Another doctor told us it was an oddity of nature, and that a cause is not known.  As you learn new information, please post it so we can learn new things.

Hope things continue to go well for you,

Thanks,
Always Shopping

[VindictiveBunny]

I think the only reason I carried to almost full term is because my husband worked and I stayed home.  We had that agreement when we got married.  It's still like that now.  I was told I was very lucky to have had her and her being very healthy.  She was breach and the doctor said by my last period she was full term, but I don't really think she was full term.  She was folded up like a taco.  Her head was on my right side next to my stomach, facing my left side.  Her bottom was on my cervix and her legs were crossed on my left side.  I was told to do exercises to turn her, but it felt horrible to do them.  It hurt.  It also hurt to walk long distances or quickly.  I was scheduled to go to the hospital for them to push around on my stomach to turn her on a Tuesday.  I felt a large pressure in my hips on Friday.  My water broke on Saturday.  I'm glad I had her when I did, because it would've either killed me or her or even both of us if they did try to turn her.  

I did get to see a Urologist about my issues and he told me that the Kidney, Ovaries and Uterus develop at the same time.  All of the organs are developed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.  It has something to do with the mother.  My mom said that my father and his best friend was always drinking and smoking around her.  She said she was very stressed out and worked long hours during the first trimester.  Can you think of anything dramatic that could have happened during your first 10 weeks of pregnancy?  

[AlwaysShopping]

Well, my daughter's abnormalities continue.  Wednesday, she had a nuclear test showing her gall bladder is functioning at 21%.  Sooo, she will be having surgery to have it removed.  The shape of her gall bladder was normal except for the bottom of it, which is believed to have caused this malfunction.  Wow, will this ever end for her?  

During my preganacy (pregnancy) with her, I was a stay at home mom with no alcohol or cigarette use nor was I around any.  I loved being a mother to my 3 yr old son and lived fairly stress free.  I have searched my memory for anything I did to cause it.  If it was my fault, I honestly can not identify what the reason was.    

Another fact I read was that babies born with this condition usually have a lower than normal birth weight.  My full-termed daughter was only 6 pounds.  Her pediatrician, whom I am friends with, could not believe that the baby weighed only 6 lbs.  She kidded me about not eating; however, I assured her I ate a lot and couldn't understand why the baby was soo small compared to her older brother whose birth weight was 8 1/2 pounds.

Keep in touch with any updates you may have.