@kathymiami You pose a great question! Most primary care doctors do not have a wealth of knowledge about kidney disease, because it is so specialized. As @cehunt mentioned, there can be different causes of chronic kidney disease, the two big ones being diabetes and high blood pressure.

From the American Kidney Fund, here is a breakdown of the stages of kidney disease: https://www.kidneyfund.org/all-about-kidneys/stages-kidney-disease

We as kidney patients, know the value of advocating for ourselves, and stepping up to do a kidney friendly lifestyle. Including diet, exercise, stress reduction, and educating ourselves, we can help delay the progression of our condition. If we see the numbers going down for our kidney function, we can start taking care of it now, rather than wait for the doctor to tell us. That's what I did around 2005, when my primary told me, "oh, it looks like your kidney function is sliding, but no need to worry about it." I immediately started myself on a kidney diet, even though everyone said it wasn't necessary. It is my firm belief doing that kept me from progressing quicker, and it wasn't until 2022 I had to go to dialysis.

We can make those decisions to self-advocate, no matter what our medical team might say. We have the final word!
Ginger