Living with Acute Tubular Necrosis (ATN)

My son Seth is 18 years old,works outside with construction and works out 4 days a week for football. He is a senior in High school and very much looking forward to the coming school year.
He has had some pretty tough things to deal with in the last few years. It seems that a string of accidents has disrupted his life in some way since about 7th grade. The last of which was a firecracker accident that limited his eyesight in his right eye to around 2300 and pretty much took away his baseball playing. A sport which he dearly loved. But lately it seemed as if things where turning around for him. He has a great paying job with a boss who really likes him. He also has been working hard to get in shape for another sport he loves, football.
But that all changed on June 23rd. when he went to get his 4 wisdom teeth removed. Things went very well according to the dentist. He was sent home with a steriod pack & Loratab for pain. He was also told that within a few days to switch to Ibuprofen for the pain. After 2 days that is exactly what he did. Now, for the whole week after his wisdom teeth where removed he was not allowed to work or work out.
On June 27th, a friday, he started complaining with hurting in his back. But it was not the usual kind of pain that would come from a pulled muscle. That night he had to get up almost every hour to use the bathroom. After that he would be extremely thristy and drink lots of water. This cycle continued all weekend. I knew nothing of what was going on because I was out of town. Upon returning Sunday I was informed of the problems he had been having. He already had a doctor appt. on Monday so I was not overly concerned. Now you have to understand that one reason his boss likes him so much is that he is very hardworking and does not like to miss a day of work. So, since Monday was his first day back since having his wisdom teeth removed, he did not blink an eye when his boss said that they would be working late. He then called me and asked me to cancel his doctor appt. After leaving work he went straight to football workout. When all was said and done he walked back in the door at 7:00 p.m. after leaving the house at 5:00 a.m.
As soon as he walked in I knew that he did not feel well at all. He asked me for one of his Loratab’s and said that he had been hurting very bad all day. He then took the pill then went to take a shower. By the time he was finished with his shower the pain medicine had begun to work. So he sat down to eat his supper. I ask him what he wanted to do about his thrist, pain and continued trips to the bathroom. I was really getting worried and thought that he must have a kidney or bladder infection. I am one of the lucky few who has never suffered form either one.I was not quite sure what the symtoms are. So we finely decided, since he did not want to miss anymore work, that we would go on to the emergency room.
Now I am a firm believer in a mothers intuition. Even though I felt quite stupid for taking my son to the emergency room for a kidney infection, something kept telling me that I should. Man was I glad I listed to that voice of reason. We were all very surprised when the Doctor informed us that my son would be admitted to the hospital for kidney failure!
The doctors,a kidney specialist and a general practitioner, both began trying to get to the bottom of what was happening to Seth. First they thought diabetes. That was negative. Then it was kidney stones also negative. He also had no sign of a kidney infection. They then started drawing lots of blood and testing for all kinds of diseases and disorders. His Creatinine level when he was admitted was at 3.5. Normal levels are 1.0-1.2. They started giving him fluids through an I-V right away. They where rushing it through his system. By the next day is count had come down to 2.9. Then 2.4, then 2.2 and it stuck there. By this time we had reached Thursday July 3rd. We where all beginning to get really scared and the doctors where telling us that he was a medical mystery. All of his test results that had come back in where continuing to be normal. They tested him for a muscle disorder(something to do with the way the muscles break down after exercising or an injury), genetic disorders and several other things. It was decided that the I-V was no longer helping him and that it was time for a biopsy. We also where being told that he could have some pretty scary inflamatory diseases. I really began to panic after I read about them on the internet.
You have to understand that I have a 202 lb, 5′11, muscular 18 year old young man laying in a hospital bed with no answers to what is making him sick. He is otherwise the picture of health. My mind began to go wild and I had a secret fear that all of these accidents that had been happening to him where leading up to something bad. So not having any answers began to play on my fears. Fears that I didn’t share with him or my husband and other children.
Later that day the nurse came in and took him for the biopsy. He was then informed that he would have to be on light duty for work and football. No lifting anything over 30 lbs. A big blow for a football player used to lifting and squatting much higher amounts of weight. For him this was a big blow. He had already missed almost 2 weeks of both work and training. He was really starting to get depressed. He wondered why all the good things in his life kept getting messed up by these bad things that continued to happen to him. I prayed for ansewers soon and we all tried to keep his spirits up. He has great friends who came to see him everyday.
They would bring him crazy gifts and keep him laughing. That helped a lot. Also, his girlfriend stayed almost around the clock with me at the hospital. His dad came by everyday, along with his brother, sister, and grandparents. His coaches, employer and various others called daily. He is a well loved young man who makes me very proud. I could not imagine a life without him in it.
He continued with almost constant pain and a need to drink and go to the bathroom. We all could not understand and prayed for fast results from the biopsy. On Friday July 4th we where sent home with orders on what he could do and a renal diet. Of course with the 4th being a Holiday fast results where not in the works for us. So we had 6 more days of waiting and wondering and worry. On Monday the 7th we had to go for more bloodwork. On Tuesday the 8th he acutally woke up with almost no pain. This gave us high hopes that he was on his way to recovery.
Finally on Wednesday July 9th the doctor called to tell us about all of his test results. All other tests that where preformed came back negative except for the biopsy. But the good news was that we finally had our answer! Acute Tuboular Neucrosis.We also learned that his Creatinine level was down to 1.7. A much better number than before. The doctor said that his condition was probably caused from either dehydration or to much Ibuprofen. I really feel it was a combination of both. I think that maybe earlier in the week when he had his wisdom teeth removed he was not drinking enough. And then on top of that he was taking 5 Ibuprofens every 4 hours. The great news was that there appeared to be no preminent damage to his kidneys. He was still instruted to take it easy until the 17th when his 2 week waiting preiod after his biopsy would be up. I still have a few questions for the doctor. I wonder if Seth will now be more prone to kidney problems,dehydration, and a continued sensitivity to Ibuprofen. We go back for another blood test in 3 weeks. I plan to have my questions ready for the doctor. I have to give alot of credit to both doctors that handled my sons case. They where very determined to find and answers. They where also very kind and considerate. They answered all of our questions and where always available for us.
I am so glad to know that my son is o.k. and will soon be back to normal! He is thrilled to be able to return to his regular schedule next week.I hope that this story will help someone else who may being going through the same thing or something like it. Keep up your faith and your hope. I pray that you find answers soon. Hopefully your problems will turn out as good as ours. We are truly blessed with good doctors and very supportive family and friends. Sincerly, Delphine C.