Microalbuminuria

Microalbuminuria occurs when the kidney leaks small amounts ofalbumin into the urine, in other words, when there is an abnormally high permeability for albumin in the renal glomerulus.-an indicator of subclinical cardiovascular disease.

Significance

1. ■ an indicator of subclinical cardiovascular disease

2. ■ marker of vascular endothelial dysfunction

3. ■ an important prognostic marker for kidney disease

   ■ in diabetes mellitus

   ■ in hypertension

A number of months ago I was speaking to another type I parent, she follows the site and we speak every now and then. During the course of our conversation she mentioned that reading blogs like mine is incredibly helpful but that sometimes she has to stay away because they can make her feel like she isn’t doing a good job of caring for her child. It took me a moment but I understood what she was saying. I don’t write very often about the things that I flat out mess up or the fears that live inside of me... Honestly, the latter is tougher to blog about then the former but today I’m going to give it a shot.

This one’s for you Michelle...

Three months ago I received an email from Arden’s NP, she said that she needed to talk to me about lab results. This email made my stomach turn as she and I do everything via email and that she was trying to set up a phone call was very out of character and I assumed not good news...

She called a few hours later and told me that Arden’s microalbuminuria level was alarmingly high, she was 57 and the high end of except able is 30. I tried to listen to the rest of what she was saying but it was difficult because I was also trying not to cry. When I got off of the phone I searched 

microalbuminuria on the web and found the information that is at the top of this post. Then I called Kelly at work, she researched it further while we sat in silence on the phone. Assuming that this test is correct, it looked like Arden was having serious kidney issues.

That’s when the dark thoughts show up. If our six year old is having kidney issues after only having type I for four years, well, it doesn’t seem like this is going to be a very good life for her. Sadness creeps in, silence becomes painful and I can’t seem to find one thing that I can do to help. The helplessness has returned. It took me a year to stop feeling helpless after Arden was diagnosed and in an instant that debilitating feeling came right back. Arden is sick, I can’t do anything to make her better, nothing seems fair - I’m lost.

A few days went by and I couldn’t shake it. My mind raced with the realities of what it would mean to need a kidney. I began having trouble looking Arden in the eye, I wasn’t sleeping, I couldn’t eat, I was in trouble and so was Arden. 

Now keep in mind that my NP said not to worry, we set up a time to retest her - I was specifically told that it was “not time to worry” but I couldn’t help it.

A couple of days after the NP and I spoke Kelly and I were still furiously Googling and reading everything that we could about microalbuminuria - ugh even the name sucks... As that was happening Arden seemed to be getting sick, Kelly thought that she had a UTI so I took her to her pediatrician. During that visit Arden told her doctor that it “burned” when she went to the bathroom. He tested her for a UTI in the office, the test came back negative but he sent a sample to the lab for a more complete analysis (thank goodness that he did) and a day later he called to say that Arden indeed had a UTI as Kelly had thought. He starts telling me that, “UTIs are common in girls this age and.........” just then I stop listening to him because I remembered that Kelly read online that a UTI can cause false positives in microalbuminuria tests - and with that, I could breath again.

Elated, I called the NP told her what had transpired, she couldn’t confirm that a UTI could cause a false positive so she checked into it, called me right back and confirmed that what I read was indeed correct... we decided to not retest Arden until her next quarterly appointment. That appointment was Monday.

I collected the sample in the morning and began my day...

By the time I had to get into the shower I was beginning to experience a fair amount of anxiety (and I am not an anxious person). I actually called Kelly and asked her to tell me about her morning at work, I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, I was trying everything to not think about the pee in the refrigerator. I knew that there was nothing to worry about but I just couldn’t help it.

So to anyone reading this but especially to you Michelle, please don’t ever think that I am living in some diabetesutopia... things get as shitty here as they do at your house and I promise to try to do a better job of showing all sides when I write. :)

This all ends well obviously. The NP emailed last night with the results of Arden’s microalbuminuria retest... 7.1! Her kidneys are fine and we are relieved but never will we be free of that little question that lives way in the back of our minds that asks, “what’s next?”. 

The picture at the top of this post is a random shot of a very little Arden...

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The following are archived comments from this post. You can post new comments below.

alexis aka @sugar_nova

I was on the edge of my seat reading. This I love your blog and I love love your love for Arden. I love sahds :) 

For some reason though I can't get blogger to add you in my feed with updates on new posts...help! Lol its a year of it knocking you off my blog roll.

Sunday, June 26, 2011 - 06:08 PM

Scott

Hi @sugarnove!

I will be moving my blog to a friendlier platform this summer and then it will be easy to track it. Until then you can try this link...

http://web.me.com/skca/Ardens_Day/Daddys_Blog/Daddys_Blog.html

Some people have luck tracking it.

ps. I have a theory about your 'allergies' drop me an email if you want to hear it... skca@me.com

Sunday, June 26, 2011 - 06:52 PM