A couple of days ago we noticed that James’ pee was a little more diluted (clear) instead of its usual yellow color so Stacy called the pediatrician to see if it was anything to be concerned about. He asked us to bring in a urine sample for him to look at. After looking at the sample, he was a bit worried that James’ urine seemed too diluted so he recommended we see a nephrologist to see what he thought. That’s what we did today.
A nephrologist is a doctor that specializes in diseases and conditions that affect the kidneys such as chronic kidney disease, kidney infections, and kidney failure. The nephrologist tested James’ urine and also agreed that it was a bit too diluted. He ran some bloodwork to make sure there wasn’t any underlying infection or disease that would be causing his pee to be so diluted. The bloodwork came back fine and he didn’t think there was anything to worry about. He did say that “urine is a useless fluid that just helps the blood do what it’s supposed to do, so if the bloodwork is fine, then the urine is doing its job.” Okay…interesting.
One funny note about this nephrologist. We have seen him, both as a patient, and in passing in the hospital. Every time we see him, he is always wearing a yellow dress shirt. Stacy asked him one time why he was always wearing a yellow shirt. He said that because he is a pediatric nephrologist, and works with kids and urine, he has been peed on more times than he can count. So, by wearing a yellow shirt, if he happens to get peed on, the stain doesn’t show as much as it would on a white shirt. Genius!
