Introduction

[Pierre]

Hi all,

I'm Pierre, I'm 49, live in Belgium, and have PKD.  I was diagnosed at the age of 22, when it was first discovered my mother had it. At that time - 1983 - only little was known on this decease and there was no internet, so my sole source of information was my neph, who was not very keen on answering any questions. So I kept a healthy lifestyle, did some sports, never smoked and only drank occasionally. I loved to cook also.

I've started dialysis in december 2007 and I'm enjoying it three times a week now, at a low care center. Up to now, all is going well, though the combination of work and dialysis isn't the best in the world. I'm awaiting a transplant (waiting time +/- 2.5 years, so I'll have plenty of time to learn Italian (Ciao ragazza!)).

So, looking forward reading the posts on this site.
See you later.
Pierre

[Ang]

  pierre

[Joe Paul]

Welcome Pierre, good to have you aboard.

[G-Ma]

 

[willieandwinnie]

  Pierre. You have found the right place to be. 

[Romona]

 

[monrein]

  to IHD.  I look forward to hearing more from you about what dialysis is like in Belgium.  Do you do your own setup at the low care centre?  Do you use buttonholes?  How often and how long do you dialyze? etc.




EDITED: Icon error corrected - Bajanne, Moderator

[bolta72]

Welcome and glad to hear things are going well, come back and keep us  informed.

[cookie2008]

 

[Rerun]

Hola!  Oh, wait that is Spanish!   Welcome to IHD.  Because you are new, I'll accept that you still like dialysis!  Just wait!  You will love your transplant though, and I hope it comes soon for you.  Keep reading this site, it is informative as well as educational.

                 

[Bajanne]

Salut, Pierre!   Bienvenue a notre communaute! (j'utilise l'ordinateur portable de ma fille et je ne sais pas comment en faire les accents).  I am taking it for granted that you are francophone!  I have visited your beautiful country and even have a great-niece and nephew who are Belgian [I am from the Caribbean].
What I want you to do is explain 'low care center'.
This is a tremendous site, full of information, support, fun, and a ready outlet for venting, ranting, raging or raving!  A real family, in fact! 
So keep reading and keep posting.  Let us know how it is going.
Looking forward to hearing from you.


Bajanne, Moderator

[paris]

 Pierre,   So glad you found us.  I have had the pleasure of driving through your lovely country and enjoyed it very much.  This is a great place to find people who understand what you are going through and for great information.  Keep posting!

[pelagia]

   I haven't been to Belgium yet, but I sure do love the chocolate!

[boxman55]

Welcome Pierre, glad to have you here

Boxman, Moderator

[flip]

Welcome, Pierre. I love your waffles.

[Pierre]

Thank you all for your kind welcome! Great to be here!

@ bajanne2000: bonjour à toi aussi, but... I'm Flemish actually so my native language is Dutch (I also speak French and German (both are spoken in my country), English and a little bit Italian.

A 'low care center' is a dialysis unit operated in a house or villa, but part of and under supervision of a hospital. They use the same machines, equipment, etc. as in the hospital, and the nurses working there are employed by the hospital. Normally a patient starts his 'life on dialysis' in the hospital where he gets his treatment for 2 or more weeks until the doctors decide he's stable and ready to go to a low care center. The patient can stay there for all his treatments unless he gets ill, has an infection, etc. in which case he gets his treatment in hospital. The main goal is to lower the cost and to give the patient the idea not to be in a medical environment.

All nurses of these centers are highly trained and experienced. These centers also offer flexible hours: the first dialysis starts at 07:00 and the last one can run past 21:00 (I go there around 16:30, start at 17:00, have my dialysis for 4 hours, and go home around 21:30.). Evening meals are included and of high quality ...

One thing you must know is that home hemo is not very common in Belgium. I asked my neph about this after having seen some movies about nx stage on Youtube, but he told me that I had to be trained for this treatment and that a second person would have to be present during the treatment for safety reasons (cramps, blackout, etc.). OTOH there are a lot of hospitals and low care centers available so there's no need for home hemo (my center is 3.5 km from my home).


@ monrein: I don't do my own setup at the low care center, all is made ready by the nurses. However, we are supposed to understand the technique of dialysis and to be able to operate our own machine (push a button when there's a beep  ).  I do use buttonholes.  I dialyze three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for four hours each time. At the moment, I'm trying to start on 2 needles, but there are some problems with my artery, I seem to have a lot of nerves running in it, so it hurts like hell when sticking the second needle in. After a scan of my arm they found a spot where it seems to cause less pain, so I'm hoping it will last. After all, 80 liters is better then 40.

If you have any questions, please ask, I'll see what I can do.

Pierre (counting the minutes to leave for yet another great dinner )

[monrein]

Your low-care centre sounds terrific Pierre.  My self-care unit is similarly run except we set up our own machines and decide dry weights etc but we're in an office building and meals aren't served although we can bring whatever we like to eat. 

I really envy you for all the languages you speak and would have loved the opportunity to master several.  I speak English, French, Jamaican dialect  and understand a bit of Spanish and Italian. 

Bon courage et bonne chance.

[Pierre]

I'll try to get some pictures of our center and post them here. We recently even got new fully automatic chairs to make us more comfortable. In the end, 4 hours is a long period, especially the last hour can last forever (the first 2 hours we can talk a bit and have dinner).

Belgium is located right on the border of two cultures, the French-roman and the Anglo-German culture, so it was kind of natural most of us speak several languages. It comes in handy when travelling around Europe. Tomorrow I'll have dialysis in the morning, and in the afternoon I'm going on a weekendtrip with my wife to Burg-Reuland, a small village near the German and Luxemburg border (I hope to be able to go on longer holidays next year).

BTW, do you put the needles in yourself, or with the help of a nurse? In a few months I'll change to iron needles, and that's when I'll start putting the needles in myself.

Pierre

[lola]

 

[funnygarcia]

It's always intertesting to read of how hemodialysis works in other countries.. Very intriguing Pierre and I look forward to more posts!

[monrein]

I did my own needling last time I was on dialysis, before my transplant.  This time, I started doing buttonholes but my vein was a bit tricky so right now the nurses are doing it and laddering up the vein to develop the whole thing more but the goal is for me eventually to do the needles.  When you say iron needles, are those what we call blunts, I wonder?

My arterial is dead easy but my venous is much deeper and the angle is dodgy and my vein tends to roll away under tourniquet pressure.

[florida.flyer]

Greetings from a fellow newbie !

[kellyt]

     I look forward to reading more of your posts!       

[carla13]

 
carla
xx

[Ohio Buckeye]