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Draft: not yet reviewed by a clinician

Use this page to prepare questions for your care team. It does not replace their advice. Your own targets and doses come from your nephrologist, diabetes team and renal dietitian.

Getting the most from appointments

In short

Visits are short, and you see several teams: kidney, diabetes, dietitian, and perhaps dialysis or transplant. The more you plan for a visit, the more you get from it (NIDDK). Bring your numbers, your medicine list and your top three questions. Bring a family member or friend if you can: KDIGO says education works best when care partners are included (KDIGO 2024, practice point 5.3.2). Before you leave, say the plan back in your own words (teach-back) to check you have it right (AHRQ). Big choices, such as which treatment to have, should be made with you, based on what matters to you (KDIGO 2024, section 5.5).

What to bring

Bring Why Where to get it
Your medicine list, or all your medicine bottles, including supplements and over-the-counter products Doses often depend on kidney function; supplements can be harmful NIDDK; Your medicine list
Your lab results over time Trends matter more than one number NIDDK; Lab results
Home blood pressure readings and weights (on dialysis: weights before and after sessions) Show how blood pressure and fluid behave between visits Your notebook or home monitor
Your CGM report (AGP) 14 days of data with the sensor worn at least 70 % of the time gives a reliable picture Time-in-range consensus; CGM reports
The app's period summary or CSV export Shows your average potassium, phosphorus, sodium, protein, carbohydrate and fluid against your targets, for a dietitian Reports for your care team; in the app, Trends → Get ready for a visit puts the averages, your latest lab results, your symptoms and your own questions on one page to print or save as a PDF (Visit prep)
Your sick-day plan and when you last used it So the team can check and update it Sick days
Three questions, written down So the most important things get answered AHRQ; Questions to ask

Questions for your stage

Every stage page ends with its own list, and the Questions to ask page gathers them by topic for printing.

Your situation Questions
eGFR 60 or more, with albumin in the urine Stage G1–G2
eGFR 45–59 Stage G3a
eGFR 30–44 Stage G3b
eGFR 15–29 Stage G4
eGFR under 15, no dialysis Stage G5 without dialysis
In-center hemodialysis In-center hemodialysis
Home hemodialysis Home hemodialysis
Peritoneal dialysis Peritoneal dialysis
Waiting for a transplant Before a transplant
After a transplant After a transplant

During the visit

  • Start with your top question, before time runs out.
  • Write the answers down, or ask your companion to.
  • Teach-back: say the plan in your own words, for example: "So I keep taking my ACE inhibitor, have my potassium checked in two weeks, and call if I am sick." This is the surest way to check you understood (AHRQ).
  • Ask for anything important in writing, especially medicine changes and sick-day rules.
  • Make decisions together. Ask: "What are my options? What are the good and bad points of each? What would happen if I waited?" Then say what matters most to you (KDIGO 2024, section 5.5).
  • Ask who to call with questions, and how soon you will hear about results.

Your team and your rights (US dialysis units)

  • Your dialysis team must include you (if you wish), a nurse, a doctor, a social worker and a dietitian. Together you make a written plan of care, which you are asked to sign. It is reviewed at least once a year if you are stable, and at least monthly if you are not, for example after long or frequent hospital stays (42 CFR 494.80 and 494.90).
  • A doctor, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or physician assistant must see you at least once a month (42 CFR 494.90).
  • You have the right to information you can understand, to be told about your own medical status as recorded in your file, and to make a complaint, inside the unit or to your regional kidney network or state agency, without losing care. The unit must post their phone numbers (42 CFR 494.70).

KDIGO also supports care by phone, video and apps alongside visits (KDIGO 2024, practice point 5.3.3). Ask whether some visits can be remote.

What to do

  • A week before: write your top three questions and update your medicine list.
  • Two days before: export the app's period summary or CSV and download your CGM report.
  • Bring your home blood pressure and weight readings.
  • Bring a family member or friend if you can.
  • At the end: teach-back the plan, and ask for changes in writing.
  • Afterwards: update your medicine list, targets in the app, and your calendar for the next tests.

Examples

Food questions for the dietitian. You export a 30-day CSV and the period summary from the app's Trends screen. The dietitian sees that your average sodium is over target on work days, from sandwiches. You swap two lunches a week for home-made ones (Reports for your care team).

A medicine change. Your nephrologist starts finerenone. You say back: "Blood test for potassium in four weeks; avoid grapefruit; call if I am vomiting." The doctor adds: "And bring your sick-day plan next time." The label asks for a potassium check 4 weeks after starting, and says to avoid grapefruit (Kerendia label). See Kidney-protecting medicines.

Ask your care team

  1. What are my latest results, and are they better, worse or the same as last time?
  2. What should I do differently before my next visit?
  3. Which changes to my medicines or insulin plan should I have in writing?
  4. Who do I call with questions between visits?
  5. Can my next visit be by phone or video?

Get help now if…

Do not wait for your appointment

Chest pain, severe breathlessness, a low the person cannot treat (give glucagon, then call 911), ketones of 3.0 mmol/L or more, or a lab potassium of 6.5 mmol/L or more: call 911 now. Potassium 6.0–6.4, ketones 1.6–2.9, vomiting or a missed dialysis session: call your team today. Full list: Get help now.

Sources

Not yet reviewed by a clinician. Facts and sources last checked 2026-10-06.