slightly sad news about home hemo

[jmintuck]

I was surprised to learn that the renovations alone to get the dialysis into my home would be very expensive as an electrical outlet would have to be created and the plumbing would need screwing around with as I also am in a Lodge. I bet it would go over like a lead balloon to even entertain the idea with the owners. I wouldn't now entertain this for this reason alone, anymore. Also, from the first minute of setup until the disassembly would take up to 6 hours every damn day. Just cannot imagine this.

I have researched PD, but I dont think I will entertain this for now as I heard of people getting infections despite the top care they have taken. ANY slip up can put you in the hospital. It never matters how small it might seem, but no. Not yet ready to entertain this idea yet.

Dialysis 3X a week at most 3 and 1/2 hours sitting in at center is seemingly the easiest for my situation.

[willowtreewren]

We did home hemo for several years. Believe me, you chance of infection is FAR lower at home where you are the ONLY patient than in-center where the techs are handling several patients and usually way under-paid, and sometimes even under-trained. When you are doing self-care, you stay on your toes regarding cleanliness. So. You want fewer hours of dialysis instead of better health? We spent 4 hours six days a week doing D. And it was worth every single minute? Why? Because it is better on the whole body not to go through those days of extra fluid build up and stress on all the organs as the toxins build up.

When you are at home doing D, you can pass the time much more comfortably. Our set up did not involve any extra plumbing or electrical renovations. The drain line went into the tub.

I think you should look at the whole picture regarding your health, not just time. I once whined that dialysis took 4 hours out of our day, but my husband pointed out that it added 20 hours of life each day. He felt GREAT the whole time and even worked a very demanding job. In-center D can leave you truly drained and needing a day to recover (and then you go right back in for another session). If this transplanted kidney should fail, you can bet we will go back on home hemo!

 

Aleta

[jmintuck]

I am just VERY slowly beginning to even get any thoughts about Peritoneal Dialysis. I have NO IDEA why this bugger is growing on me, like a heart valve vegetation, but in a better way. I read about 3-4 encouraging reports about this and it is very slowly changing my mind about home PD. I was adamant , like REALLY adamant before, but now I am getting slightly softer toward this. All of the convincing articles are in the  pudding. Why not consume it while the research is prayerfully and carefully done? On one "smaller"? plus side, the risk of bleeding out from some bungled fistula event seems like a lesser thing to begin to worry about. Jez, I flexed my arm once with ONE needle and got a mega-infiltration from Hell. WHOOO! Did that hurt like mad for that first day of this. Bad enough for me to take an acetaminophen for the first day. The next day, the infiltrated area started to not be quite as solid and was easing up.Still have one black bruise on the underside of the arm, but the rest seems better

[Simon Dog]

There ain't no free lunch.  If you are looking for an access method without risk of complications, you will not have much luck.

The good news is that most of the time peritonitis, when caught early and properly treated, is survivable - though repeated bouts can make PD less effective due to membrane failure.

[Fabkiwi06]

I started on in-center hemo and wasn't thrilled about the idea of PD initially. But, the more I learned the more attractive it became. I'm still young and trying to be as active as possible so incenter was really chewing up a huge part of my day. Home hemo wasn't an option for me for a few reasons. PD has really been the closest to "normal" I think I could be, given the situation.

Do your research and think about how it will fit in with your life. If nothing else, at least we're at a time and place in dialysis treatments that there are options instead of being stuck with just one choice.

[jmintuck]

True. I could really begin to look into it. I have a lot of work cut out for me.

[cbatsea]

We use the Nexstage system...it's SO much easier!  No electrical modifications, and no plumbing issues....you can either use the pre-made bags of dialysate or use the pure flow (which is what we do....so much less trash and storage issues!)...they simply run a water line to a nearby faucet and a drain line to your existing drain.  Easy-peezy.  So much more user-friendly!