More info from MCS regarding Big Guns test results:

    Protein in the urine can come from many sources in a non-clean catch. It can come from the vagina, rectum, external genital area, and of course the urinary tract. Since it was a non-clean catch there is really no diagnostic value in it. If Mom was a little dehydrated when the sample was taken...

She is almost always a little, or more, dehydrated when the sample is taken, despite my efforts to pump her up. She was more than a little dehydrated on 8/08/03; so much so that I was pushing water on her relentlessly, even at the lab in the waiting room, and purposely took her in for her draw later in the day than usual (even though I figured she'd register high on blood glucose, which, amazingly she did not) in order to give myself some time to hydrate her, but, well, who knows why, for some reason she just wasn't retaining water that day.

...the protein was there because of that. Also the very beginning of the urine stream and the very end of the urine stream tend to be the "dirtiest" just because of contamination of the area or because a person forces the urine out at those times. If she had any irritation in the vagina or urinary tract the protein was present because of that. At 86 she has experienced uterine atrophy which will tend to cause irritation (even if she is unaware of it) and this could be enough to cause protein in the urine. Of course there are some conditions and diseases that cause protein in the urine, but these are always accompanied by more symptoms. On the whole I wouldn't worry about this unless you feel that the catch is a clean one. Be sure to tell the doctors that this was not a clean catch sample.
    I just read a report that 1 in 10 older adults have protein in their urine. This could be because the filtration of the kidney wears out (especially in diabetics) as a person gets older. One reason the Dr. asked for a protein test on the urine is that it is a good way to access kidney damage - in Mom's case due to the diabetes.
    There is a way of obtaining a cleaner catch without trauma - let Mom clean herself with water and a paper towel or a towelette provided by the Dr. Then tell her to start peeing in the toilet - let the first part pass, then catch a middle portion and let the end portion pass. It's messy, but it does provide a cleaner sample.

    Been there (literally, "hands on" been there, so to speak), done that. Sometimes this does work a little better. The negative urine results may very well have come from relatively successful tries at this but most of the time, by the time Mom or I have finished cleaning her, she has peed away everything in her bladder and we are back where we started.

    Boy, I can't believe how much I wrote about pee. Hope I didn't bore you.

    Actually, discussing Mom's elimination habits and products has become one of the more fascinating topics of conversation for me these days. I think, in this respect, I am in league with parents/caretakers of children (before they get to the "pretend you're not my parents/pretend I don't have parents" age).

    As far as the low IgG - I agree with you about the different ranges. It all depends on the type of test done, the machine used, the reagents used and the range that comes with the particular test kit. It is so hard to go from one facility to another because each facility uses its own testing kits. When you have Mom tested in Prescott you may find differences in the results for this reason, but don't worry, it's just a difference in facilities.

- posted by gail rae @ 09:43   email...this post