The life of a dialysis patient – part 3
By Bob P. – guest blogger
What kind of kidney dialysis should you do?
I have had tried all kinds of dialysis.
- Hemodialysis is most tiring and takes a lot of your time but it gives you some freedom that other treatments usually don’t provide.
- Peritoneal dialysis worked better for me since it allowed me to go on work and still receive the treatments. It puts more responsibility on you, but nevertheless is worth it. I used to connect before I went to bed at night and unhooked it in the morning before going for work.
- When I tried hemodialysis I noticed that is the most dangerous and it requires the help of someone to hook up as well unhook for support. Not all patients qualify for such a treatment and it is offered only to a certain number of people.
If you are independent person, you can try peritoneal dialysis but if you are precautious and scared to do it yourself, you can go with hemodialysis.
What dialysis will do to your morale
Dialysis was always a harrowing experience as it was painful and drained me mentally, physically and financially. I was so sick that I couldn’t even think of surviving just long enough for the transplant. When my doctor urged to me think of transplantation, I felt a surge of happiness and hope, however short-lived it was once I realized the complicacy of matters and factors to be considered before the organ could be transplanted.
Most of my relatives and siblings offered to be screened but their ages and blood types weren’t ideal. It took us years to find a matching donor and I had lost all hopes. But in the end, my doctor got me a donor who was willing to sacrifice one of his kidneys and our joy knew no bounds.
One more major problem was logistics since the cost of the entire transplant operation is quite prohibitive but I decided to break my bank and give it a try. While lying on the operating table, I was quite apprehensive of the transplant results. For a while, I had to go back to hospital quite regularly because of some issues with my scar and a few viruses I had contracted during the operation. My transplant has been certainly challenging in ways it impacted my health, work and life in general. But since that day, I have lived a more useful and meaningful life. My friends and family have always been supportive during the time of transplant. They contributed money for my dialysis, visited me at the hospital and cheered me up with cards, flowers and phone calls. I consider myself really lucky to have survived through this life changing experience. I owe a lot to the gentleman who was brave enough to generously donate his kidney and helped me prolong my life.
That’s why I’m determined to live my life to the fullest. What is really helping me in doing this is the holistic treatment that my good friend Mike suggested me to try. I haven’t discovered it soon enough to save my kidneys, but I’m actually using it to preserve the one that I’ve received from my generous donor. I really think that treat as well as I can my new kidney is the least that I can do to thanks all the people that helped me and my donor.
Related Posts
5 ways to replace dialysis that are actually proven to work →
4 steps proven to stop kidney disease progression →
3 ways to get out of dialysis ALL kidney disease patients should know about →
Thank you Bob for sharing your story here. I really appreciate it.
Mike