One Kidney

bantonan

Ultrasound last week confirmed baby only has one kidney.  The doctor didn't seem all that concerned as the kidney she does have is healthy (as far as they can tell on an ultrasound).  They said the only thing she can't do is donate a kidney!  Anyone else have any experience with this? 

Rannndi

Not with my girlies now, but I did babysit a little boy while he was growing up who only had one kidney.  He functioned just fine normally, but when it came to contact sports, he had to sit out.  The concern is if there were some injury to the one functioning kidney that he had, then there's no back-up.  In the grand scheme of things, that's no biggie!  

There's also always the chance that the ultrasound is wrong.  They're not incredibly accurate.  If the doctor isn't concerned, I wouldn't be either!

mislogis

My grandmother was born with 1 kidney. She lived to be 83 and passed only bc of a stroke. Her kidney was the last organ to fail.

That said, your doc is right she just can't donate

bantonan

Thank you all so much!  This helps!

marathonmommy82

My friend's daughter has 2 but one doesn't function well . The other kidney had picked up the slack her daughter is a very active and healthy 3 yo

jmathi0149

My H was only born with one kidney. He played soccer from age 6 until he graduated high school so it doesn't affect activities of any kind. The only thing is... if he drinks too much booze sometimes he pees the bed. He likes to blame this on one kidney, I blame it on having no self control. 

bantonan

These stories make me feel so much better! 

Rannndi

jmathi0149 said: My H was only born with one kidney. He played soccer from age 6 until he graduated high school so it doesn't affect activities of any kind. The only thing is... if he drinks too much booze sometimes he pees the bed. He likes to blame this on one kidney, I blame it on having no self control. 

I should have clarified!  It was just his docs that suggested that he sit out for safety precautions. With that being said, I worked at The University of Cincinnati in their Sports Medicine departments and we had many athletes that only had one paired organ (one eye, one kidney, etc).  They just had to sign a waiver.  

Anybody that I've known with one kidney has always functioned just fine, and I would have never known if I wasn't their baby sitter or athletic trainer

jmathi0149

@Rannndi‌ I totally missed your part about sports. H didn't even know about only having one until his sophomore year of High School. Plus soccer isn't nearly as much contact as something like football, wrestling, or lax.

tshelby85

I was born with one kidney and have no problems. Played sports heavily. Never knew I had only on until 2 years ago. I would not worry. My kidney is slightly larger in order to compensate. I have no issues.