Tips to Help You Adjust to Kidney Dialysis
The process of the dialysis
To purify your blood an artificial kidney or hemodialyzer is connected between your arteries and veins. The toxic but oxygenated blood from your arteries is carried on to the external machine, which removes excess fluids and chemicals from your blood to your vein to be transported back to your heart.
The emotional issues with the dialysis
The process takes away three to four hours from a day, with having to visit the dialysis centre three days a week. So obviously, that’s the time gone from your day just to see another day. You can also perform the procedure at home but conventional home hemodialysis takes extensive training to be performed and each session lasts three to four hours long. The time is spent at home but again you wouldn’t like to call it quality time.
Adjusting to the dialysis:
If you are advised by your doctor to take in-centre hemodialysis, familiarize yourself with the hospital/clinic setting. Get to know your doctors, nurses and fellow patients. Think of it as a social gathering that you have always yearned for. Taking to your fellow patients could give you a lot of insight into how to adjust to the new normal. Talk to them about movies you watched or a trip that you would like to take.
If you are in for home hemodialysis then the time could be your most quality time spent with your family. you could work on your laptop while on the dialysis or watch your favourite movies.
2. Dialysis Type: Peritoneal Dialysis
The process of dialysis:
Blood is cleaned internally without the need for external devices to be connected to your body. A Dialysis solution flows in your peritoneal cavity, through an access catheter, where it stays and removes extra fluids and waste products from your blood. The solution exits the cavity through the same catheter after a while. Then the process repeats.
Emotional issues with the dialysis
If allowed to choose between the two types of dialysis it’s seen that people who like to feel independent take this option because they don’t have to visit a clinic. Here each cycle lasts one to two hours and the cycle continues for seven to eight hours. Obviously, that’s a time you feel like you are really sick and need assistance to even see the next sunrise and falling asleep with the arrangement can obviously be tough.
Adjustment to the dialysis:
At first falling asleep with peritoneal dialysis can be tough but as you remove the barrier from your mind and learn to embrace the life-sustaining process you will not be able to imaging not sleeping with it in you. It’s better to focus on the fact that you are alive because this era you are born in has allowed you to. If you feel that you wouldn’t like to spend your daytime on dialysis then do it while asleep. That will give you enough time in the day to do all the important and fun things that you have to do.
Note: depression is common among people taking dialysis. It’s hard to snap out of it as people around you may try to convince you. Talk to your doctors about it and get help if it’s not letting you live life as you would have wished.