[JEZ]

Originally Posted by Steven

Thanks for all of the suggestions! We got Dad the softest bristle toothbrushes at the pharmacy, but his gums bleed constantly without even touching them. I'll definitely ask his doctor about azithromycin and my concerns about his kidney function.

I ask for copies of all of his CBC and ferritin test results. As of several weeks ago, his Creatinine was at 2.8 mg/dl and his e-GFR was at 23 mL/min/1.73m2. The doctor has not discussed what any of this means to us (it doesn't seem like he pays much attention to anything except his HGB, WBC and platelet counts), so I have to do some research and go armed with more questions.

In my case the creatinine was 1.6 (my healthy baseline was 0.7) and the GFR was 33 (my healthy baseline was >85) when my doctor decided to consult a nephrologist. The nephrologist told me I was in medically induced stage 3 kidney disease and had to come off the medicine (cyclosporine) that was causing it. She wanted my creatinine to get down to at least 1.2 and said she liked the GFR to be greater than 60%. I do not know what would relate to your case. I think the GFR calc is an indication of percent kidney function but a more sophisticated test of it may be needed for real accuracy.

JEZ