hi. a few yrs ago my legs and stomach began to swell. then I could not pee. I was sent to have a catheter put in and had it for about 2 yrs. recently, I had it permanently removed. the catheter was removed every month and a new one was placed. I started getting infections but allergic to some of the medications. about 3 months ago I had it removed. I started to be able to pee but very little. my stomach is bloated. I had 2 scans, it showed nothing. however im not doing that well. I had some blood work for kidneys done 2 days ago so I cant tell you the results. I have an intense backache but it is more one sided and higher than my abdomen. no one seems to know what to do. I do suffer from a rare Mitochondria Disease called MELAS- its closely related to Lou Gherigs disease. its a nerve/muscle disease but no one seems to feel its related. My mother lost one of her kidneys as she was diabetic..then the other shut down and she was on dialysis. I am 58 yrs old with no children.