Home Hemodialysis

Everyone keeps saying that home hemodialysis is the way to go. I’ve always resisted doing/training for home hemodialysis. In a way, I guess I always kept my fingers crossed in hopes that perhaps there would be some sort of divine intervention and I wouldn’t need dialysis anymore. That…or I’d get a transplant. Since neither has occured yet, I have to consider my life and the quality of it right now.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Going to dialysis 3 times a week sucks. It’s tiring, it’s LONG, and it’s draining.

If I did dialysis at home, I’d hook myself up to my dialysis machine about 4 or 5 times a week right before I go to bed. The dialysis machine would run all night while I sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I’d simply disconnect myself from the machine, then continue on with my regular daily activities.

PROS:

• i don’t have to travel all the way to the hospital every other day
• since i’d be dialyzing myself while I sleep, my days can be spent doing the things that I want to do, such as going to school, going to work, etc
• since i’d be SLEEPING during dialysis, I imagine that it would cut down on dialysis fatique
• since the dialysis time would be all night, i can run the machine at a slower pace, which is much better for one’s quality of life
• running the dialysis machine more frequently and at a slower pace is better for one’s heart

So now that I’ve laid out all of the pros, what’s the problem? What could possibly be bad about home hemodialysis?

CONS:

• learning how to work a dialysis machine! >:-(
• training requires someone else in my household to learn how to utlize the machine
• plumbers (or somebody hired by the city I guess) has to come in and modify our pipes in order to accomodate the water needed by the dialysis machine
• the need to be attached to a machine all night….what if I have to go pee?
• committment is key. there’s no coming home too late/tired to hook myself up
• waking up late is also a big no-no. waking up late can mean being late for wherever it is that i have to go that morning
• just the thought of having a dialysis machine in my room isn’t the most desirable thought.

Ideally, with the point I’m at in my life, next to transplant, home hemo has to be the best thing for me right now. It’ll allow me to work the hours that I want to work (haven’t been able to do that) and it’ll also allow me to go to school on a more regular basis. (haven’t been doing school on a regular basis either). Let’s face it. I still suffer from chronic anemia, so doing home hemo isn’t going to turn me into some sort of superwoman. But it certainly will be an improvement I think.

I’m still gonna take some time to think about it though. It’s a big decision.