@help60 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You have wise words of advice here, and absolutely, knowledge is power! "Don't panic" is easy to say, harder to accomplish, as i bet you know first-hand, right!?

Don't let a doctor pooh-pooh your concern over kidney disease. It is better, from my experience, to learn all you can to mitigate the condition. Proper diet for you, moderate exercise, stress control, adequate rest all play a part. When you understand the underlying cause of the kidney disease, work on that. For me, my underlying cause is a very rare autoimmune condition [less than 50 people ever diagnosed with it!] that causes fibrin deposits into the filtering components of my kidneys. No treatment for that. But by following a renal diet long before the drs suggested it, I was able to preserve function for a long time.

Tell us what you are doing to track down a good nephrologist and dietician, if you would?
Ginger