Home Dialysis

[deej]

     Hi! I am Dolores. I am originally from Michigan but now I live in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  I have been on dialysis since Feb. of 2005. I hate it!  My doctors now tell me that my heart is too weak to continue on hemo-dialysis and that I have to change to PD. I am really scared because I don´t understand it all. I´ve been reading up on it on the Internet and have set an appointment with a doctor for more info but I still have loads of questions. I understand how the technique works but how do you live on it doing dialysis 10 hours a day?? I am an ESL teacher (English as a Second Language) and am still working. I try to put up a strong front and guess I have accomplished it well as even my family takes little interest in my problem. I´m very glad I found this site. I need to talk to people who understand more than I do about this problem.
     Thanks for reading this.

[Sluff]

Welcome to the site.

[Rerun]

Hi HD (Home Dialysis),

Welcome to the site.  That is too bad about your heart.  Maybe get a second opinion.  Although I think you will like PD better.  There are several posts about PD.  You can go to the "Search" bar and type it in and all kinds of posts will show up.  Hang in there!

[Bajanne]

Welcome, Delores.  We are glad to have you on this site.  This is good place to confront your fears.  People who have gone through what you are going through are able to help.
I am an English teacher as well.  But though it is supposed to be English as a mother tongue, sometimes I wonder......

[deej]

Thanks, Rerun.  I took your suggestion and read all the posts about PD that I found in search. It helped a lot. Most people seem to be happier on PD than on Hemo. Albeit, I still have questions. Can I manage to hook myself up on PD alone? What about all the sterile room conditions?  How can you take a trip if you have to have a super sterile room for the whole process? What about fans - can you use a ceiling fan or any other kind of fan during the process? (Brazil is a very hot country!) Sorry for all the stupid questions but I am completely in the dark. As I said, I´ve been doing hemo for almost a year and a half and just when I finally get my fistula (they don´t use grafts in Brazil) into great shape and am starting to get used to the idea of doing this the rest of my life (I´m a very young 55!), they lay this other bomb on me - I can´t do it anymore. Having to change to PD might be better but I need to get more info, especially about the cons. The pros seem to be self-evident.  I´m "all ears" for any info anyone wants to send me. Thanks very much.
      P.S. If anyone is curious about dialysis in Brazil, just ask and I´ll be happy to explain the best I can. (Although, I know there is no great rush to come down here and get stuck with needles!!!)

[Rerun]

Okay, lets move this question and answer session over to "Home Dialysis."   Start posting over there. 

Thanks

Rerun ~ Moderator