@pmsfarmer, I've read and my docs also have told me you can live quite awhile in stage 3. They also told me that as we near 70 our kidney function naturally declines as part of aging and what would be abnormal for a young person isn't necessarily bad for someone 70+. When I was first diagnosed I was in stage 4 but moved up to stage three with proper diet and good medical management. Occasionally I drop back to stage 4 temporarily, depending mostly on what's going on with meds for other health conditions, but for the most part have been pretty stable for two years. Two different nephrologists have told me they don't usually start considering dialysis until a patient's filtration rate drops below 20 and stays there. As long as your primary care doctor monitors your lab work to check your kidney function, he may feel you don't need to go to a specialist yet. However, as patients, we are ALWAYS entitled to a second opinion. Or a third. Etc. Most docs don't object if you ask for a referral to a specialist "just" for a 2nd opinion. Quite frankly, although my own neph is considered to be one of the best, I have much better rapport with my very knowledgeable primary and would just as soon he managed my CKD but he feels a neph is more appropriate so I'm doing as he asks. Hope this helps and welcome to this discussion! There's good info here and lots of support.

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