Dialysis vs Life Support

[LarryG]

What's the difference between dialysis and life support?

[amanda100wilson]

dialysis IS life support

[MooseMom]

"Life support", in my mind, means when you have multiple organ failure and are so critically injured or ill that you are in no shape to make an informed decision.  "Life support" suggests a "holding pattern" while decisions about longterm treatment (or not) are being made on your behalf.

Dialysis is life support like Amanda says, but ideally, a dialysis patient would be able to make the decision him/herself whether or not to accept said treatment. 

I guess there are all sorts of life support.  What about people with pacemakers?  Or people who have to have those portable oxygen tanks?

Interesting question.

How are things going with you, Larry?  How's Janet?

[jbeany]

If you can't live without a medical treatment, then it's life support.  D qualifies, even if it's not commonly thought of that way. 

[WishIKnew]

I think D is life support and should be called that.  Then, maybe, people would better understand.... maybe

 

[MooseMom]

I think D is life support and should be called that.  Then, maybe, people would better understand.... maybe

 

Very good point.

[jbeany]

 

*Raising my hand to admit I cheerily answer "My husband left me for another woman while I was on life support." whenever anyone asks what ended my marriage.*

Then I get this from the nosy questioner:   

[MooseMom]

*Raising my hand to admit I cheerily answer "My husband left me for another woman while I was on life support." whenever anyone asks what ended my marriage.*

This answer should get a prize.  Ultimate use of the Kidney Card.

[amanda100wilson]

I totally agree with you WishIKnew

[lmunchkin]

For people with Kidney Failure, yes, Dialysis is a life support.  There are the exceptions though.  Some people dialysize till there kidneys get better for complications that may have occured, but that is very rarely.

lmunchkin

[LarryG]

"Life support", in my mind, means when you have multiple organ failure and are so critically injured or ill that you are in no shape to make an informed decision.  "Life support" suggests a "holding pattern" while decisions about longterm treatment (or not) are being made on your behalf.

Dialysis is life support like Amanda says, but ideally, a dialysis patient would be able to make the decision him/herself whether or not to accept said treatment. 

I guess there are all sorts of life support.  What about people with pacemakers?  Or people who have to have those portable oxygen tanks?

Interesting question.

I am doing fine. It will be 18 months tomorrow since transplant and things are great. Janet is fine too. Just need more money. How are you? You going to Vegas?



How are things going with you, Larry?  How's Janet?

[LarryG]

 
AAKP.Org. (The American Association of Kidney Patients) DIALYSIS is a type of renal replacement therapy which is used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function due to renal failure. It is a LIFE SUPPORT treatment and does not treat any kidney diseases. Dialysis may be used for very sick patients who have suddenly lost their kidney function (acute renal failure) or for quite stable patients who have permanently lost their kidney function (end stage renal failure).

 

[Rain]

I like calling dialysis -  life sustaining therapy  instead of life support.  It just sounds better.

[monrein]

I like calling dialysis -  life sustaining therapy  instead of life support.  It just sounds better.

I'll quote Shakespeare here,

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"

And now I'll add my view of it...a cockroach is still a cockroach even if we call it a "waterbug" or even, somewhat inaccurately, a palmetto bug.

[LarryG]

Moose Mom, Things are well. Janet is fine, just trying to survive. Today is my 18 month transplant anniversary and all is good. I see it is a small group going to Vegas. We had a room but getting up travel funds not been easy. How are you?

[MooseMom]

Monrein, the cockroach analogy just about says it all!  Hey, you must be off to France soon, right? 

LarryG, I'm fine now that the neutropenia issue has been resolved, at least for now.  I'm thrilled that your 18 month anniversary has arrived and that things are going well for you.  I just had my 3 month anniversary, and despite a few hiccups which were by no means uncommon, I think I'm doing really well.

Please give Janet a big hug from me.  She is a special lady, and I still vividly remember how nice it was to spend time with the two of you in Vegas. 

[monrein]

MM you remember everything!!!!  Yep headed to France on the 9th of October until 10th of November.  Excited to spend the last week in Paris with my sister and brother. 

So glad you are doing OK and I hope we can get together before too much longer. 

Hello also to Larry and Janet.

[RichardMEL]

I remember a few years ago when I was on D the state nurses called a strike (not fun). Anyway I asked one of the nurses in my D unit (part of the hospital, which was affected) what the effect on us might be and he told me "Don't worry. The strike does not affect staff working on critical cases like life support - and dialysis is life support" - as others have said.

While I wasn't exactly shocked when he put it like that, I hadn't considered it like that before - I mean I suppose we all think of "Life Support" as being an Iron Lung or Ventalator or whatever in ICU for the really seriously critical patients whereas D can almost be boring it doesn't seem the same - but it is - without it we'd die - thus life support.

[The Lady]

Or people who have to have those portable oxygen tanks?

While I have kidney disease and do dialysis, I also have pulmonary embolism and lung scarring from them and am on oxygen 24/7.

Oxygen therapy is called life support. I use the tanks when I leave my home, but in it I have a concentrator. This allows me to be on a life support list with my electric company which gives me a priority and they are supposed to call me if there are any planned power outages in my area. I imagine home dialyzers would also get this benefit if they use cyclers or nxstage type machines.

[MommyChick]

Dialysis is my "Life Saver" ... If it weren't for D I would have been long gone years ago...
YAY, for technology

[Riki]

I always called dialysis life support.. you're hooked up to a machine in order to continue living... same thing...

[AnnieB]

I like calling dialysis -  life sustaining therapy  instead of life support.  It just sounds better.

I'll quote Shakespeare here,

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"

And now I'll add my view of it...a cockroach is still a cockroach even if we call it a "waterbug" or even, somewhat inaccurately, a palmetto bug.

never did like palmetto bugs.

[M3Riddler]

What's the difference between dialysis and life support?

Anything that is requied to sustain life is considered "life support". So yes, In my opinion and according to the definition of life support in Wiki:

Life support in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured, as part of intensive-care medicine. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life. Some examples include:
 Feeding tube
 Total parenteral nutrition
 Mechanical ventilation
 Heart/Lung bypass
 Urinary catheterization
Dialysis
 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
 Defibrillation
 Artificial pacemaker


Yes.............Dialysis is Life Support

[cdwbrooklyn]

What's the difference between dialysis and life support?

This is my opinion on how I feel about this question.  In the eyes of society, D is life support because looking from the outside to the inside D patients could not live unless they are treated by a machine, which in return is call life support. Yes, it’s true and I agree; now on the other hand, looking from the inside to the outside of D, I see it as therapy.  For me, if I don’t receive D, I will get sick and eventually die.  I won’t die immediately after stopping D but without it, I will surely die.

Now this is how I think, since I won’t die immediately should I miss some treatments, I don’t see it as life support.   If I chose to miss a treatment or two, I will be alright but not fully healthy. Don’t get it twisted because I have no plans to miss a treatment unless something is wrong with the machine.  I’m just using this as an example. 

However, society sees it as a horrible thing to live with and feel that D patients won’t live long because of it.   I’ve had a doctor (not a kidney doctor) tell me that I will not live long.  I’ve laughed in his face and told him, you are not God.  This happened about two years after starting D. Praise God I trust in Him and only Him.  I’ve never seen D as life support although society said it is.   I’ve always seen it as therapy that helps to keep me healthy so I can move forward and continue to live my life.  Now, that just me, that is my way of dealing with this as I will be on it for the rest of my life unless God says otherwise.

[okarol]

Not everyone has it easy on dialysis. I think of it as a bridge to a transplant. Doesn't matter to me if it's called life support or renal replacement therapy, I would not like to see Jenna on it long term.