My mother has rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid issues, was told in the past she had lupus even though signs never developed, and has ended up in the hospital twice for low sodium. She was put on a restricted liquid amount last August. A month or two ago she was referred to a nephrologist. She refused to go. Then she got the results back from a urine analysis and her protein number was over 200. Her protein/creat number was over 4500. She is home bound, depressed, and agoraphobic. She has asked me to find out how worried she should be. She has relented to seeing a nephrologist but the closest one doesn't have another appointment until November. She wants to know if she needs to get in somewhere sooner. She is terrified of having diabetes and wouldn't be able to do dialysis. Can anyone tell me what stage of kidney disease she is at with these kind of numbers? What would you recommend as far as treatment. Thank you in advance.