Caretaker Husband

[deckm00]

So my wife has kidney damage thanks to years of taking Lithium.  She's real close to starting PD dialysis and has been handling the stress like a real trooper!  Me?  I'm doing alright but of course wish all this would just go away.  We both would like our lives back!  She's 1 step away from being cleared for a transplant.  Her brother has offered one of his but of course there are a million hoops for him to jump through before that's determined.  My blood type is incompatible but I'll happily donate mine into the exchange program if it becomes necessary.  We're from Pennsylvania about 1.5 hrs away from Philly so we're working with the good folks from Penn Medicine. 

[Michael Murphy]

The run up to dialysis is the most stressful period in my life.  It was a big step into the unknown.  The reality for me was the fear of dialysis was considerably worse then the actual dialysis was.  I know life is better without dialysis but for me there is no life without dialysis.  So I deal with it week by week.  Good luck I think you will see it’s not as bad as you think it will be. 

[Xplantdad]

Welcome to the site. We were just back in Pennsylvania at the end of May. Stayed in Lehighton, Souderton and Jim Thorpe. Beautiful areas!!

BTW, I was a caregiver for my daughter...read the links in my signature for more info.

You got this!!!

[cassandra]

Welcome to the site deckm00


   




Take care, Cas

[LorinnPKD]

Welcome!

[Paul]

 
Welcome to the site deckm00.

My thoughts are with your wife. And also with you too. This is going to be hard for you as well, you will need strength to keep looking happy and to support your wife. Remember you can always come here for advice (there are several other caregivers on this site). And you can come here if you just need some support, a hug, or to vent when things get bad. We will be here for you.

[Charlie B53]

Welcome to our IHD Family!  You are among friends here as we ALL are or have gone through the same experiences you are getting into.  That fear of the unknown is real, and is far worse than the actual event.  Learning as much as possible before hand takes a lot of that fear away.  Spend as much time studying at kidney.org and kidneyschool.org It will be time well spent. PD and Hemo are worlds different, each can be effective treatments, the trick is figuring out which treatment is better suited for your individual lifestyle.

I've done PD for 3 1/2 years and it was great.  I had no limitations on my diet and fluids.  But it took a lot of time. 10 hours of treatment plus the set-up and tear down, it adds up.  Sadly I must have made a mistake, touched one of the open fittings during set-up.  Woke up during that nights treatment in terrible pain which kept getting even worse.  Checked my drain and found it clouded proving I'd become infected.  After 3 months dealing with an infection that would NOT die I had to have my cath removed and immediately started on Hemo in clinic.  This caused a radical change in my diet and I had to learn to restrict my fluids.  The crazy thing is I much prefer doing only those three treatments each week.  I have all that time free every evening, not tied to my Cycler.  Hemo works for me.

Study, learn as much as you can.  Make better informed decisions.  Things do have a way of working out.

When all else fails, post your questions here and we will tell you what we have learned.  Hopefully together we can make this experience easier for you both.

Take Care,

Charlie B53

[kristina]

Hello and welcome to IHD. I do hope your wife can have her kidney-transplant soon and I send you my best wishes and good luck  from Kristina.

[Marilee]

Hi deckm00 and welcome. I'm also a caregiver - my hubby started PD a little over a year ago, and you're right: There's so much anxiety leading up to the transition. It's like standing out in a rainstorm, looking at a creepy ol' house and wondering if it's worth the risk to take shelter in there even though you know that once you enter you can never leave. At least, that's how it felt to me.

There's a lot to learn, a lot to adjust to, but it's manageable and does get easier. Good luck to both of you and welcome!