Vacation in Italy

[Ken Shelmerdine]

On September 4 my wife Rita and I will be holidaying at Lake Garda Italy for two weeks  and I understand that the techs at dialysis unit there speak very little English. Does anyone know the Italian translation for the following.

'Please set the machine to ''No Ultra Filtration'' or ''No Fluid Removal''
 ''Pump Speed 300''
''My fistula is nearer to the surface than it looks''

[Trikkechickk]

Ken, you could get one the Italian/English dictionaries.  I doubt "fistula" is listed, but just point to it.

I'm taking a dialysis cruise to South America and so I bought myself a text book to learn Spanish (I know some), but I figure I will be with alot of South Americans on the cruise and really don't want any language barriers.

Cindy

[kristina]

I would ask your Dialysis-Centre to supply you with a short letter,
pointing out all your particular medical details as you mentioned above.
 
Perhaps you could also get a short history of your health-record, allergies etc.

It might be a good idea to have the Dialysis-Centre-letter translated, just out of courtesy?

I also would contact the Italian Consulate (Piccadilly 11, M1 2HY)
or ask the London Embassy for some practical advice?

Better safe than sorry.

Lake Garda is one of the most beautiful spots in Europe, very cosmopolitan and a real treat!

Best wishes from Kristina.

[okarol]

Hopefully there will be other patients (maybe even a tourist) who speaks English too!
Have a great trip - I bet Italy will be beautiful! 

[thegrammalady]

what fun ken. i hope you have a blast. be sure to take lots of  we will want to hear all about it when you get back.

[Riki]

Ken, you could get one the Italian/English dictionaries.  I doubt "fistula" is listed, but just point to it.

I'm taking a dialysis cruise to South America and so I bought myself a text book to learn Spanish (I know some), but I figure I will be with alot of South Americans on the cruise and really don't want any language barriers.

Cindy

depending on where the cruise is going, you may want o pick up a portuguese-english dictionary too.  a lot more speak portuguese than spanish in south america

[Jean]

Dont forget to blow your diet in one day and have some pizza. I have heard it is awfully bad there, but, how can that be?

[flipperfun]

Hi, I had a holiday in Lake Garda and dialysed at the Garda Hemodialysis Centre at Arco http://www.gardadialysis.it/Introduction.htm.  English was limited but there were some people who did speak English and it was not a problem.  I hope you have a great time.  I loved Lake Garda and plan to go back as soon as I can.

Enjoy
Flipperfun

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Thanks for all your replies. I guess I'm just a bit worried about the language problems. Flipperfun did you take your own dialysers because that's what I have to do. They'll have a fit at customs when they see those on the hand luggage ex-ray machine. I do have a letter from the clinic explaining what they are but it will quite interesting to see their reaction when they see them.

[Sugarlump]

How did you get on in Italy I reckon its one of the easiest countries to have dialysis in...no trouble with Airport security, seemed to recognize the dialysiers and stuff . Found I felt a lot better in a hot climate!!! Could drink more too.

[okarol]

  I hope you're having a great time!

La corsa può essere buona medicina! 

[medicalgirl]

Hi - I realise that this is past your holiday - sorry only just seen your post.  We.ve got some dialysis phrase cards translated into different languages - currently Spanish, Italian and German - but we are adding more.  I have added your phraes in for everyone to use. Link is below.  Hope that it's useful - I would value your comments on imrovements.  I hope you had a wonderful trip!  Katy 
http://www.globaldialysis.com/downloads-and-free-stuff/cat_view/28-for-haemodialysis-dialysis-users.html

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Well it all went too quickly. We had a great time. The scenery at Lake Garda is simply awesome. We stayed at Riva del Garda at the north end of the lake which I think is the most spectacular scenery wise with huge mountains bordering east and west. Good quality Italian food served in the hotel but you do get a bit pasta'd out after two weeks. Weather was fairly mixed but with plenty of warm sunny days with averge temps about 25 C.

The dialysis clinic is in a place called Arco which is about 3 kilometres from Riva. We booked this holiday through a tour operator which specialises in holidays for dialysis patients so there was about 9 dialysis patients and their partners.

We had to pay for taxis to and from the clinic but we went three per taxi so we shared the 12 Euro cost each way. The NHS have reciprocal aggreements with many dialysis centres in Europe so all the dialysis sessions were free.

The clinic itself was quite basic and situated on a small shopping mall between a furniture shop and a lighting shop which was quite bizare. I'm not sure that I got a good dialysis. The K content of the dialysate is stronger than at home as I had to do an extra one and a half hours dialysis when I went to my own centre on monday after I got back as my potassium was too high. But then again that could have been just food related as I think Italian food contains many potassium rich ingredients.

I don't want to frighten anyone into not using this clinic but I think their lack of a strict anti infection protocol leaves a lot to be desired. For example they don't wash their hands from patient to patient in fact I never even saw a washbowl on the ward.

I was amazed to see my needle lines after disconnection although clamped were left uncapped and alowed to fall on the bed linnen momentarilly while the tech went about the business of disgarding the machine lines before he removed the needles from my fistula.

I've heard it said that this is quite acceptable in most countries as thay have not had the infection problems that Britain has encountered in the past hence there is no need for an over rigorous anti infection routine but is it an accident waiting to happen?

As soon as I figure out how to download from my new camera I'll send some pics.
Can someone give me the link for reducing the file size of pictures?

[Sugarlump]

Actually Ken, after my holiday on Lake Garda (I stayed at Limone home of all the lemon trees) and having two sessions at Arco dialysis unit,
I fell ill a week after returning home with a serious infection, gastro-enteritus type unspecified bug that lasted six weeks of being pretty
rough. It did make me think twice about travelling abroad again. You have no idea whether you mix with anyone infectious, whether it at airport, hotel or dialysis centre. I only drank bottled water in Italy and used a lot of anti-bac hand cleanser. But then my immune system is
pretty poor anyway, like a lot of dialysis patients.
I'm off to France at the end of the month for 5 days to visit my daughter and I'm told a lot of their hygiene doesn't match english standards so I'll give you an update on my return.
As for the potassium, most Italian food is laden with tomatoes (pizza, pasta, lasagne) which are very high in potassium so might be that! I'd
love to live in a hot country as I found with the heat (80 degrees F) most days I sweated a lot of excess fluid, and was able to drink more freely (lovely Italian coffee, ice cream and wine) and felt much better generally whilst i was there.

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Hi Sugarlump.
We visited Limone twice during our stay. The first time we saw a magnificent firework display. The strangest thing was the sonic boom like echo from the surrounding mountains. The second time was part of a boat trip which included a visit to Malchesne. I would like to go again but coming back with a K level of 6.8 worries me.

[okarol]

As soon as I figure out how to download from my new camera I'll send some pics.
Can someone give me the link for reducing the file size of pictures?

Here's an online photo editing site http://www.picnik.com/

[Ken Shelmerdine]

As soon as I figure out how to download from my new camera I'll send some pics.
Can someone give me the link for reducing the file size of pictures?

Here's an online photo editing site http://www.picnik.com/

Thanks Karol!