@fiesty76 and @paiva, imagine my shock when I learned all of a sudden and with no discernible symptoms I was in Stage 4 and close to Five!

The doctor who told me was filling in for my primary, who had warned me several weeks prior that I was in mild renal failure we both considered to be age-related (I was 70 at the time.) Then primary had died and I hadn't been able to see a doc for several weeks. The substitute primary went back to her regular practice and it took awhile for me to find a new primary, who gave me all the info I asked for and immediately sent me to a neph.

But before I even saw the neph I put myself on a renal diet. By the time I saw the neph I was in the upper end of Four and when she asked if I'd ever considered a vegetarian diet I started one. I had been on a vegetarian diet before and liked it, especially since the only meat I ate usually was wild game and wild-caught fish. Now I eliminated those as well and to this day have not had any meat whatsoever.

Next visit found me up from close-to-dialysis Stage 4 to Stage 3b and both of my 2 nephs and my primary credited the diet as much as anything else we were doing. By that time most of my diet was vegan but I still call myself a vegetarian because I do eat free range chicken eggs and a VERY FEW processed items containing a TINY amount of milk product.

I have fluctuated between Stage 3b and Stage 4 depending on other health factors - a case of pneumonia put me in the hospital and dropped kidney function. Function improved after that but more recently a case of shingles set me back again but my poor lil ol remaining kidney seems to have recovered and I'm back in Stage 3b.

It's not unusual, I'm told, to have fluctuations in functio measurements anyway and lab results depend on time of day and lab doing the analysis so can vary. Thank goodness for Mayo's support groups! They've taught me a lot.

I'd like to share a couple more things. Through my research I've found that Roma tomatoes have far less "harmful" mineral content than other kinds of tomatoes and can be eaten in moderation (small amounts) without going over recommended daily renal limits of phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and protein.

My favorite grocer, Hy-Vee offers miniature steam-in-bag potatoes which also fall within "good" parameters. The potatoes aren't peeled or soaked so the nutrient values are reduced further even if you don't peel them but just cut and soak them first before cooking instead of steaming whole in the steam bag.

As a diabetic I had been told portion control is very important and on my personal diet that works ok because it's taste I'm after, not volume. I can have many foods that once were thought should be avoided, partly because growers and producers, etc., have altered the nutritional values of products, partly because manufacturers now offer reduced or zero sodium, for instance, in many canned goods which already have been "leached" of extra potassium via the canning process, and partly because I can happily eat a fourth of a cup of something instead of a more common serving of a half or whole cup.

It helps a lot to come here. It also helps to look at this whole kidney thing as an adventure. On receiving the sudden and shocking "you are almost to dialysis" diagnosis I actually came home thinking I would die within a week. Yet here I am four years later and basically thriving.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying, "There is hope." And hope visits this group often.