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Author Topic: How Long Does It Take to Die Once You Quit Dialysis?  (Read 252373 times)
Stacy Without An E
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« on: August 11, 2009, 09:27:55 PM »

I can't find an honest answer to this questions anywhere on the internet.  I realize there are variables depending on your health status generally.  But what if your only health issue is kidney failure?  On average, how long would it take to die?

Just curious.
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Stacy Without An E

1st Kidney Transplant: May 1983
2nd Kidney Transplant: January 1996
3rd Kidney Transplant: Any day now.

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Dialysis.  Two needles.  One machine.  No compassion.
Zach
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« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2009, 09:40:48 PM »

Remember Art Buchwald?

He lived a year without dialysis before he died.  But that's a most unusual case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011900444.html

It may take between two and five weeks.
Depends if you are eating a lot or a little.

8)
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Uninterrupted in-center (self-care) hemodialysis since 1982 -- 34 YEARS on March 3, 2016 !!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No transplant.  Not yet, anyway.  Only decided to be listed on 11/9/06. Inactive at the moment.  ;)
I make films.

Just the facts: 70.0 kgs. (about 154 lbs.)
Treatment: Tue-Thur-Sat   5.5 hours, 2x/wk, 6 hours, 1x/wk
Dialysate flow (Qd)=600;  Blood pump speed(Qb)=315
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My KDOQI Nutrition (+/ -):  2,450 Calories, 84 grams Protein/day.

"Living a life, not an apology."
okarol
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« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2009, 09:55:17 PM »

For Juan it took a little over 4 weeks - his story http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=14679.0
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Admin for IHateDialysis 2008 - 2014, retired.
Jenna is our daughter, bad bladder damaged her kidneys.
Was on in-center hemodialysis 2003-2007.
7 yr transplant lost due to rejection.
She did PD Sept. 2013 - July 2017
Found a swap living donor using social media, friends, family.
New kidney in a paired donation swap July 26, 2017.
Her story ---> https://www.facebook.com/WantedKidneyDonor
Please watch her video: http://youtu.be/D9ZuVJ_s80Y
Living Donors Rock! http://www.livingdonorsonline.org -
News video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7KvgQDWpU
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« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2009, 10:03:06 PM »

By no means am I a doctor or have anything to do with the medical field so I may be off on this.There are many factors in this with your general health being a big factor......are there other complications,types of meds taken and while stopping dialysis is the person still taking them,attitude is there a desire to die right away.....the I feel lousy and wish to stop living or just live a short period of time as "carefree"and "happy".All I know is when my dad stopped dialysis they gave him 7 days to live.......he lasted 10 but was in a great deal of pain the last three days and was basically doped up on morphine for them.But to know my dad I think he lasted those extra 3 days just to say "kiss my a** you idiot doctors,you have no idea what you are talking about!",he hated doctors with a passion.My doctors told me 5 days to 30 days,that it was not an exact thing because of all the different factors in each person.The poisons build up at different rates,as does fluid around the heart,how quickly are other organs affected and which ones.But in most cases they do not give you long.
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okarol
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« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2009, 10:04:21 PM »

This is from: http://www.kidneyeol.org/O-Q&A%20About%20EOL%20Care%20for%20Renal%20Patients.pdf

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
About End-of-Life Care for Renal Patients


1. How do major religions feel about people choosing to stop dialysis?
Many organized religions, such as the Roman Catholic religion, the Eastern Orthodox religion, and most Protestant denominations believe it is acceptable for people to stop dialysis if the suffering involved with dialysis outweighs the benefits. Some religions, such as Orthodox Judaism and Islam, believe it would be acceptable to stop dialysis only if the patient is imminently dying. If patients have concerns about their religion’s views on stopping dialysis, it is suggested that the patient consult with their clergy before making a decision to stop dialysis.

2. How do we know that stopping dialysis is not suicide?
Suicide occurs when a patient takes an action to cause his or her death. Examples of suicide are taking an overdose of medication or killing oneself with a gun. Patients who commit suicide do not die naturally. When a patient stops dialysis, the cause of death is kidney failure. The death is natural. Before a patient makes a decision to stop dialysis, he or she should be evaluated for depression and other treatable disorders. Discussions also should be held between the patient, the patient’s family and loved ones, and members of the treating renal care team. Others, such as the patient’s clergy, the primary care physician, etc., may also be involved in these discussions.

3. Does choosing to stop dialysis mean that staff and family have let the patient down?
The short answer to this question is “No.” Patients usually choose to stop dialysis because they are no longer satisfied with their quality of life. When a patient asks about stopping dialysis, it is important for the renal care team to evaluate the patient to be sure that there are no treatable, reversible causes of the patient’s dissatisfaction with dialysis. If after a full evaluation and therapeutic interventions as appropriate, the patient makes an informed decision to stop dialysis, the patient’s wishes should be respected. Even after stopping dialysis, medical care should continue and patients’ symptoms should be treated. No one has “let the patient down” if a decision has been made to stop dialysis.

4. Does it mean that the family and staff want to get rid of the patient when a patient chooses to stop dialysis?
The short answer again is “No.” Dialysis staff are like most health care providers: they want to treat people to help them to live productive, happy lives free of pain and suffering. Usually when a patient asks to stop dialysis, extensive discussions are held between the patient, his or her loved ones, and members of the dialysis staff to understand why the patient is choosing to stop dialysis. As part of these discussions, the dialysis staff will strive to identify and treat any of the possible symptoms that are contributing to the patient’s poor quality of life before simply stopping dialysis. Unfortunately, for some patients, the burdens of their illnesses and the need for dialysis at some point becomes overwhelming and causes more suffering than benefits. If this is the case and no treatments are likely to improve the patient’s quality of life, the decision to stop dialysis may be made. In these cases, the dialysis staff is often saddened by the decision to stop dialysis but they remain supportive of the patient’s decisions. Usually members of the dialysis staff will continue to visit with and care for patients who have stopped dialysis.

5. Do life insurance companies pay survivors if people choose to stop dialysis?
Yes. Stopping dialysis is a natural death so life insurance policies are paid.

6. How long does it take to die if a patient stops dialysis?
Most patients who stop dialysis die within 8 to 12 days. An occasional patient who has near normal urine output may live several weeks to a month. Patients who have other illnesses may die only a few days after stopping dialysis.

7. Is it painful to die after stopping dialysis?
Not usually. Patients who stop dialysis usually become very sleepy after a few days and then die in their sleep. Dying from stopping dialysis is considered to be one of the less painful ways to die. If a patient has pain, it can be treated with medications.

8. How come some patients don’t die within the predicted time period?
Some patients who are very sick with infections, heart disease, or lung disease do not even live a week after stopping dialysis. Other patients who have some kidney function left may live several weeks to a month.

9. Are there medications a patient can take to help in this period of time of no dialysis?
Yes. Patients can take a medicines to relieve shortness of breath and pain. Patients can also take medicines to relieve muscle jerks that may occur. Patients who are short of breath can also use oxygen. Anti-nausea medications can be helpful too.

10. Can patients finally eat whatever they like when they stop dialysis?
Yes, patients may eat what they want. Some patients will continue to limit their fluid intake to avoid fluid building up in the lungs. These issues will be discussed with the patient who chooses to stop dialysis. Occasionally, some patients do not want to limit their fluid intake and make an agreement with the dialysis unit to have fluid removal without dialysis after they stop their dialysis treatments. This process is called ultrafiltration. Although some patients who stop dialysis want to have ultrafiltration if fluid buids up in the lungs before they die, ultrafiltration is rarely needed in dialysis patients who stop dialysis.

11. Will the patient who stops dialysis swell up like a balloon?
No, not if the patient is careful about liquid intake or receives ultrafiltration. Most patients who are dying are not thirsty and so drinking a lot of fluid after stopping dialysis rarely happens.

12. Do you have to go to a hospice to get treated?
Most hospices actually provide care in your home. Less than 5% of hospices are in hospitals.. The Medicare hospice benefit does allow for patients who are treated at home to go to the hospital to manage pain or other symptoms that cannot be managed well at home. The Medicare hospice benefit also provides respite care so that caregivers can get rest. This benefit allows patients to get care in a residential facility, nursing home, or a hospital for up to 5 days.

13. Can hospice help families with patients who stop dialysis?
Yes, hospice physicians, nurses, therapists, and social workers are familiar with helping patients and families who have only a short time to live.

14. Are there any special circumstances that hospice needs to be aware of when they receive a referral for a renal patient?
Yes, hospices will need to know the patient’s expected survival after stopping dialysis.

15. What if my doctor does not want to refer me to hospice?
It is important to find out why. Some doctors are not familiar with hospice and might prefer not to become involved. It is important to have a frank discussion with the doctor regarding quality of life and life expectancy. If the doctor does not want to have this discussion or is uncomfortable with hospice, it might be helpful to talk with a doctor who works with hospice patients. If needed, care can be transferred to another doctor who is comfortable with hospice.

16. If the patient feels a whole lot better once he stops dialysis, does this mean that he is getting better and that he should go back on dialysis?
No. Patients who stop dialysis often report feeling better for the first 3 to 4 days after stopping dialysis. Patients often say that just having made the decision takes a burden off their minds, and they feel more relaxed. Also because patients are not going to dialysis treatments 3 times a week, they are less tired from the travel back and forth and do not have the “washed out” feeling that many patients get after dialysis.

17. Because Medicare stops paying the renal team once a patient goes with hospice and stops dialysis does this mean that the team can no longer be contacted?
Most renal care teams want to be involved in the patient’s care after the patient stops dialysis. They are happy to answer questions the patient or family may have and to prescribe medications as needed to be sure that the patient is comfortable.

18. Is it always true that a patient must stop dialysis in order to get hospice?
No. Patients who are dying from some other condition such as cancer or heart disease may continue dialysis while receiving hospice care.

19. Do younger patients have the right to stop dialysis?
Yes. Regardless of age, the reason why dialysis is stopped is because the burdens associated with it are too great. Occasionally even infants and children have dialysis stopped because continued life with dialysis is causing extreme suffering without a likelihood of benefit.

20. If an older person has dementia, is it homicide for the family to stop dialysis?
No. Patients with dementia often do not understand the dialysis process. Sometimes it is even necessary to restrain them (literally tie them down) to keep them from pulling out their dialysis needles during the treatment. Undergoing dialysis can cause severe agitation for patients with dementia. Patients with advanced dementia who do not understand the dialysis treatment and cannot cooperate with it are patients for whom stopping dialysis should be considered. Death from stopping dialysis is due to kidney failure, not homicide. What families (and staff) perceive regarding how a patient is tolerating dialysis, especially in the demented state, is an important consideration when weighing the patient’s quality of life.

21. What does the renal care team recommend for the patient who is thinking about stopping dialysis?
Various organizations such as the National Kidney Foundation, the Renal Physicians Association, and the American Society of Nephrology have published guidelines on how to evaluate the patient who is thinking about stopping dialysis. Patients should be evaluated according to these guidelines before a decision is made. Patients and families can request such an evaluation by the renal care team prior to any decisions being made.

22. Can a patient not tell his family that he is stopping dialysis?
Patients are legally allowed not to tell their family that they are stopping dialysis. However, not telling the family is usually a very, very, very bad idea. Families are unprepared for the patient’s decision, and the unpreparedness causes them severe emotional suffering. Major decisions such as stopping dialysis are best made with the patient’s family. Telling the family and discussing it with patient and family (even if it takes a little longer) is likely to facilitate reconciliation and peace with the decision and is usually well worth the time and effort.

23. Can a patient who is stopping dialysis donate any body parts?
Patients who are stopping dialysis are not able to donate internal organs such as hearts, lungs, or livers, but they may be able to donate tissues. It is best for a dialysis patient who is stopping dialysis to express their wishes in advance so arrangements could be made at the time of death for an evaluation of the patient for tissue donation.

24. Will the police come to a patient’s home if he stops dialysis and dies? Should they be notified ahead of time?
No, it is not necessary to call the police. It is best for the patient to be taken care of by hospice after the patient stops dialysis. When the patient dies, the hospice should be called, and a hospice nurse will come to the home and assist the family in making necessary arrangements.

25. Can a person stop dialysis and die in the hospital?
In past years, most patients who stopped dialysis died in the hospital. In recent years, there have been changes in insurance coverage. Insurance companies may deny hospitalization coverage for a patient who has stopped dialysis. Hospices can help dialysis patients who have stopped dialysis to die comfortably at home.

26. Will all insurances pay for hospice?
Many, if not most, will pay for in-patient hospice. Patients and families should discuss this matter with the dialysis social worker prior to making the decision to stop dialysis to be sure what type of coverage the patient has with regard hospice.

27. Would it be okay for little children to visit a patient who has stopped dialysis?
In most cases, it is encouraged to have little children visit beloved family members who have stopped dialysis. The dialysis patient then has an opportunity to say goodbye to the child. The child is also given the opportunity have a final memory of the patient.
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Admin for IHateDialysis 2008 - 2014, retired.
Jenna is our daughter, bad bladder damaged her kidneys.
Was on in-center hemodialysis 2003-2007.
7 yr transplant lost due to rejection.
She did PD Sept. 2013 - July 2017
Found a swap living donor using social media, friends, family.
New kidney in a paired donation swap July 26, 2017.
Her story ---> https://www.facebook.com/WantedKidneyDonor
Please watch her video: http://youtu.be/D9ZuVJ_s80Y
Living Donors Rock! http://www.livingdonorsonline.org -
News video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7KvgQDWpU
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Hadija, Athol, Me and Molly at Havelock North 09

« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2009, 02:04:21 AM »

I was having a wee visit last year in the renal unit and there was a woman who was very ill and on D, but other things had gone wrong.  Plus she was older.  Her family decided to let her go, and it only took about 4 days.  She was pretty much comatose until the end.
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Diagnosed Nov 2007 with Multiple Myeloma.
By Jan 2008 was in end stage renal failure and on haemodialysis.
Changed to CAPD in April 2008.  Now on PD with a cycler.  Working very part time - teaching music.  Love it.  Husband is Paul (we're both 46), daughter Molly is 13.
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« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2009, 04:59:10 AM »

My plan is to drink about 5 banana milk shakes.  I figure 2 days!  I would think if you don't pee at all (like me) you can't last too long.

But I am tired of the little things like the staff being idiots and now there is an unexplained lump on my nondialysis arm and I'm still dealing with diarrhea and my heart flutters all the time now. 

Lord either heal me or take me home because I'm tired of Purgatory!

 :bow;
« Last Edit: August 12, 2009, 05:00:35 AM by Rerun » Logged

dwcrawford
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« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2009, 06:11:17 AM »

I am told by my doctors that, in my case as an otherwise healthy and older person, it would be about six weeks.  Again,  I assume like everything else, there are no real experts in the matter but surely in IHD you'd find lots of people who delude themselves into thinking they are.
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Nothing that I post here is intended for fact but rather for exploration into my personal thought processes.  Any slight, use of words with multiple connotations or other percieved insults are totally unintended.  I reserve my insults for private.
napala turki
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« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2009, 07:42:37 AM »

A good topic, never taught of this question... :rant;
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maritza0486
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« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2009, 09:48:13 AM »

I have researched this before and the information I came across altogether was it can generally vary, even if your only condition is kidney failure. I even read that dying from kidney failure and no treatment is called "Silent Death" or something of that nature. Supposedly without treatment, one typically dies in their sleep. Sleeping becomes more deep as the days go by and eventually it becomes so deep that one does not wake up. It's almost like falling into unconsciousness. I figure that is great if I ever decide I do not want to deal with dialysis any longer.
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~Diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease at age 17 (a month before turning 18)
~Kidney Transplant from sister February 10, 2005
~Transplant failed December 2008
~Began Dialysis for my very first time May 6, 2009
~Put on Transplant List on June 5, 2009
~Miraculous phone call from Montefiore about potential kidney August 31, 2009
~2nd Kidney Transplant!!! September 1, 2009
~Sep. 6, 2009 Creatnine 1.1 ---- Sep. 11, 2009 Creatnine 1.5 --- Sep. 18, 2009 Creatnine 1.3
~May 14, 2010 -- Creatnine 1.0!!!! I am healthier than ever. 8 months since 2nd transplant!!
okarol
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« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2009, 09:55:48 AM »

I assume like everything else, there are no real experts in the matter but surely in IHD you'd find lots of people who delude themselves into thinking they are.

Oh DW - such a rosy outlook this morning!  :flower;
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Admin for IHateDialysis 2008 - 2014, retired.
Jenna is our daughter, bad bladder damaged her kidneys.
Was on in-center hemodialysis 2003-2007.
7 yr transplant lost due to rejection.
She did PD Sept. 2013 - July 2017
Found a swap living donor using social media, friends, family.
New kidney in a paired donation swap July 26, 2017.
Her story ---> https://www.facebook.com/WantedKidneyDonor
Please watch her video: http://youtu.be/D9ZuVJ_s80Y
Living Donors Rock! http://www.livingdonorsonline.org -
News video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7KvgQDWpU
Brightsky69
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« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2009, 10:10:36 AM »

I have a book that says it would take roughly 2 weeks. It also says that it wouldn't be painful......I don't know about that.
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Transplant June 11, 1991 (1st time) my mom's kidney
Received my 2nd kidney transplant Oct. 19th 2010.
twirl
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« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2009, 10:24:01 AM »

my nep doc told me it could take 2-4 weeks and I would get very sick and I would be in pain
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dwcrawford
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« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2009, 11:08:59 AM »

told same as maritza
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Come to think of it, nothing is funny anymore.

Nothing that I post here is intended for fact but rather for exploration into my personal thought processes.  Any slight, use of words with multiple connotations or other percieved insults are totally unintended.  I reserve my insults for private.
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« Reply #14 on: August 12, 2009, 12:18:34 PM »

A relative in her 80s went off of dialysis and died in less than a week. 
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paul.karen
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« Reply #15 on: August 12, 2009, 12:41:25 PM »

Good posting with great answers Okarol  :thumbup;
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Curiosity killed the cat
Satisfaction brought it back

Operation for PD placement 7-14-09
Training for cycler 7-28-09

Started home dialysis using Baxter homechoice
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Hadija, Athol, Me and Molly at Havelock North 09

« Reply #16 on: August 12, 2009, 03:00:54 PM »

I am told by my doctors that, in my case as an otherwise healthy and older person, it would be about six weeks.  Again,  I assume like everything else, there are no real experts in the matter but surely in IHD you'd find lots of people who delude themselves into thinking they are.

Yes, it's sad really, cos everyone doesn't realise that they only have to ask me!!  I AM an expert in everything I chose to spout about.  Lucky eh?
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Diagnosed Nov 2007 with Multiple Myeloma.
By Jan 2008 was in end stage renal failure and on haemodialysis.
Changed to CAPD in April 2008.  Now on PD with a cycler.  Working very part time - teaching music.  Love it.  Husband is Paul (we're both 46), daughter Molly is 13.
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Getting the heck out of town.

« Reply #17 on: August 12, 2009, 03:43:45 PM »

To celebrate the three in a row worse days on dialysis I goofed around a little this morning to avoid  in inevitable for a little while.  I just thought it might be appropriate to ask something people who are seriously considering it rather than read in the newpaper, etc.  No slight meant.  But I had just asked my nephrologist and my internist the same question yesterday so it was fresh on my mind.
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Nothing that I post here is intended for fact but rather for exploration into my personal thought processes.  Any slight, use of words with multiple connotations or other percieved insults are totally unintended.  I reserve my insults for private.
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« Reply #18 on: August 12, 2009, 04:00:04 PM »

I am telling you Dan-- you aren't going anywhere until we meet!    I should have typed that all in capital because I am yelling!  I am sorry the past week has been rough. I hate it for you   :cuddle;   

This is a very interesting thread and something we all have or will think about. 
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It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.
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« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2009, 05:52:09 AM »

To celebrate the three in a row worse days on dialysis I goofed around a little this morning to avoid  in inevitable for a little while.  I just thought it might be appropriate to ask something people who are seriously considering it rather than read in the newpaper, etc.  No slight meant.  But I had just asked my nephrologist and my internist the same question yesterday so it was fresh on my mind.

How long it will take? don't know but this is how it will happen.

This is the stuff that is happening in your body when your kidneys fails. If you decide to do nothing this is what will happen inside your body...., since your kidneys cannot filter out the potassium you consumes fast enough, it will cause your heart to beat irregularly. If you have lost the ability to produce urine, your vascular system will become flooded with fluid and your heart won't be able to keep up with the increased volume. That increased volume will also collect in your lungs making it difficult to breath, depriving your heart and brain of oxygen. Your kidneys cannot filter out the urea your body produces, which will result in toxemia, rapidly damaging your heart, brain, and other vital organs. If you live long enough, the phosphorus that your kidneys can't filter out, will absorb into your aorta, and causing it to calcify and harden, making it harder for the heart to supply itself with oxygen.
Dialysis prevents all the above life threatening effects by removing the harmfull toxins in your body. If you do not qualify for a transplant or choose not to have one DIALYSIS is the only option you have if you want to stay alive.

Someone here said that it won't be painfull........ I think it will..... Not being able to breath.......
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Please note: I am no expert. Advise given is not medical advise but from my own experience or research. Or just a feeling...

South Africa
PKD
Jan 2010 Nephrectomy (left kidney)
Jan 2010 Fistula
Started April 2010 Hemo Dialysis(hate every second of it)
Nov 2012 Placed on disalibity (loving it)
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« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2009, 05:59:20 AM »

No one knows, of course, how painful.  Two of my best and most supportive doctors gave me this information just a couple days ago.  I guess you have to take your chances.

No transplant here for sure.  And I keep reading the articles stating that "dialysis is no way of life" and I start to believe them.  Really, I've tried the Positive approach and it worked for a while, but sometimes reality sets in.
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Come to think of it, nothing is funny anymore.

Nothing that I post here is intended for fact but rather for exploration into my personal thought processes.  Any slight, use of words with multiple connotations or other percieved insults are totally unintended.  I reserve my insults for private.
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« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2009, 06:03:36 AM »

Dan

Why don't you look at it more practically...

Make a list of the pro's and con's and look at each and decide then.

It is your choice my pal and only you know what it is like..... no one else knows how you feel.

Hugs
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Please note: I am no expert. Advise given is not medical advise but from my own experience or research. Or just a feeling...

South Africa
PKD
Jan 2010 Nephrectomy (left kidney)
Jan 2010 Fistula
Started April 2010 Hemo Dialysis(hate every second of it)
Nov 2012 Placed on disalibity (loving it)
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« Reply #22 on: August 13, 2009, 06:59:05 AM »

If anything this thread has demonstrated it is that this is one of those questions that medical science, or human experience, can only quantify so much. Everyone is so different - one lives 4 days, another 4 weeks... you can't really put a figure on it like that because it seems it would be a rough gestimate at best. And if you had those 5 banana shakes like Rerun wants it would be even less!!!

I have to say this is not something I've ever considered - even though I saw my own mother just 3 and a half years ago decide to stop her own treatment and go on her own terms - so I am no stranger to the notion and I even support very much our own self determination and right to make such a decision for ourselves - it's our lives and if it's no longer giving us what we want from it, and it's a daily struggle... we should be able to end it if we choose.

Dan, I am sorry you've had 3 bad dialysis sessions... have you posted about this in a thread somewhere? it concerns me. Sometimes we all have bad sessions, or even a couple of bad ones ina  row - I had some about 2 weeks ago and it sure sucked! I wonder if you have had problems due to cramp or crashing or something? maybe your dry weight is out or something.. perhaps it can be a simple remedy to improve the experience for you.

Dan have you considered talking about your feelings with the social worker?
You have to meet Paris.. just like I have to meet her daughter, AlohaBeth!!! :) yes yes a double "date" hehehe  :rofl;
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3/1993: Diagnosed with Kidney Failure (FSGS)
25/7/2006: Started hemo 3x/week 5 hour sessions :(
27/11/2010: Cadaveric kidney transplant from my wonderful donor!!! "Danny" currently settling in and working better every day!!! :)

BE POSITIVE * BE INFORMED * BE PROACTIVE * BE IN CONTROL * LIVE LIFE!
dwcrawford
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Getting the heck out of town.

« Reply #23 on: August 13, 2009, 07:29:28 AM »

My social worker is rattled brained  (nice but nuts).  I talked to a therapist who is very  good in general but had no knowlege of what dialysis is.  I talked to my two most important doctors.  I'm doing nothing on the spur of the moment.

Of course they cannot give you an exact time frame.  It is based on your current condition and records.  Neither can they tell you if the dialysis treatment will kill you tomorrow and if and how much that would hurt.  Someone yesterday said, "don't say life is a gamble", but it is.
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Come to think of it, nothing is funny anymore.

Nothing that I post here is intended for fact but rather for exploration into my personal thought processes.  Any slight, use of words with multiple connotations or other percieved insults are totally unintended.  I reserve my insults for private.
hurlock1
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THIS MEMBER IS BANNED FROM IHD

« Reply #24 on: August 13, 2009, 08:28:17 AM »

No one knows, of course, how painful.  Two of my best and most supportive doctors gave me this information just a couple days ago.  I guess you have to take your chances.

No transplant here for sure.  And I keep reading the articles stating that "dialysis is no way of life" and I start to believe them.  Really, I've tried the Positive approach and it worked for a while, but sometimes reality sets in.

For some people, "dialysis is no way of life" is I guess is true. So far I don't agree with them. For ME, the dialysis clinic is my social network. I'll have to admit (I go for 5 hr.) after about 4 hr., I'm ready to get the hell outa' there, but, in general, I don't mind it that much. I'd rather be able to go anywhere I want and do anything I want. They say that they can get you dialysis anywhere, but when I go on vacation, I go away from population centers. Try to get dialysis at the Grand Canyon. But I've been there more times than I needed to go. After the first time. . .
I aint gettin' no kidney. Too much trouble for something temporary.
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