Anemia treatment, $, and quality of life

[boswife]

Bill, and others,, it seems that the longer i dialysise him, the worse anemic he gets.  I realize it's still only 3hrs 45 min (though over 4 hrs on machine including system checks)  his hemoglobin continues to have issues.  He has no energy and therefore no exercise and now heart function showing these effects.  He still eats good and mostly gets between 70=100 protien per day.  both hemoglobin and album has gone down again

[fearless]

Bill, I am glad for you that it has turned out that your kidneys will still produce erythropoetin for you.  And glad your tumor was caught.  It makes it even more self-sacrificing that you would advocate for good anemia management for those of us not so lucky.
Yes, I'm learning that I have LOTS of reading to do.  I'm honestly having some second-thoughts about whether I want to be a self-sacrificing dialysis patient right now.  Maybe a closer balance between self-advocate and patient-advocate is something I could handle more prudently 

again, please know that your past efforts, and those on-going, are very much appreciated

[fearless]

boswife,  most people with ESRD have anemia because the kidneys are not producing enough of the hormone that forms red blood cells.  Also, the environment of un-dialysed blood further degrades the rbcs.  Then, dialysis also destroys the rbcs.  Your husband most likely will need iron and a drug like epogen to help him keep his anemia under control.  If he's doing dialysis at home, his blood values should be checked (once a month or more if he's not stable) and his therapy should be adjusted (dialysis, drugs, whatever)
I'm no doc, but that's what a doc is supposed to address.  If he's not responding to whatever treatment the doc has prescribed, the doc needs to assess the situation and proceed accordingly, in my non-medical opinion