Dinkie - My neighbor, in his 70s, is doing it. His wife is a retired nurse. He is part of a study being done that his doctor pushed which is supposed to improve his "quality of life". In short, it has been he!!.

They both had to take a 6 week course on how to run the machine, and there were lots of "oh by the way, if such and such goes wrong......", as in dangerous/life threatening occurances, that they came up with all during the course. His wife was/is a wreck because of the whole thing, but her DH wanted to do it. He is a very "up" optimistic man.

He can't access the first fistula any more so he had to have a new one put in, which required hospitalization for the surgery. For some reason having to do with the new fistula, and a pool of blood on the floor, he hasn't been able to do it at home and has been going to the center 3 days a week. His wife is glad for the respite.

One room had to be plumbed and has been turned into his dialysing room. The dialysis machine is hooked up to their computer which feeds into the dialysis center. Supposedly, if the machine malfunctions, they will contact 911 to come get him. There have been some malfunctions, but no 911 call that I know of. Fortunately, they are about 2 miles from the hospital and dialysis center. And the machine 'tech' has had to be called in several times to tweak something or other.

I think that the feeling was that because she was a nurse she could take care of him, even though through the entire course, it was emphasized that it is HIS disease and HIS responsibility. She is always there when he dialyses and pretty much knows what to look for that could mean trouble.

The whole program was presented to them as a positive thing to do, and maybe for some it is, but from what I've seen and heard from the wife, which has been a lot, none of the pitfalls were presented until after they were committed to it and into the 6 week course and the plumbing and drywell done, and there was no turning back.

Perhaps someone else here has a more positive experience to tell you, but I don't think you would want to risk it without someone medically trained close at hand.

will it be hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis? big difference there.

i dont think hemo at home is such a great idea.

anette (who is a nurse also)

My friend Kathy until she received a new kidney from her son last year did her dialysis at home (peritoneal). She would also do it in her car on the way to work. LOL She preferred doing it at home because it gave her a better quality of life. She was also able to drive the long distance to Florida with her boxes of fluids and a microwave to warm them up.

My neighbour down the street is like you - going to the dialysis clinic at the hospital 3 days a week. She calls this "her job" because it is like going to work except she doesn't get paid. LOL She is 80 years old and when she comes home after the 4 hours she is very tired but the next day she feels like a new woman.

The only problem my friend Kathy had was an infection in her abdominal port and she had to go to the clinic for a couple of months for dialysis instead of doing it at home.

Wishing you the best.

Anne

My friend in Houston has Home dialysis 2x's a week and dialysis clinic 1 day a week. She just added a sun-room to her house and that is were she does her dialysis, she is also able to have a nurse do her dialysis for her. She told me she has a great insurance plan.

Gayle

My friend in CA did it for several years for his wife. He had to go through special training and I observed once as back up if needed. One thing I remembered was they had to use sterile water with everything.

My grandpa did the periteneal dialysis at home for 5 years. In his case they didn't have to do any plumbing changes, or building changes. It was nice because the closest dialysis center was 50 miles away and with Nebraska weather winter time was a big concern. Both my granparents were in their 70's and had no problem with doing the dialysis at home on their own. Also they would be able to take supplies and do the dialysis at my folks so that they could come for the holidays. For them it was an ideal solution, plus being at home instead of being exposed to lots of colds and flu stuff at the hospital is another bonus if your health is fragile to begin with.

Stacie

Sounds like my friend's is hemodialysis - fistula is in the arm.

Bulldinkie, you are wise to find out everything about this before you decide to make the change. I'm sure you can search under home dialysis and come up with lots of resources too. Can your care providers refer you to anyone doing dialysis at home so you can find out first hand what it's like? If you could manage to do it, it sure would be nice, wouldn't it?

In the meantime, do you take knitting or reading to dialysis? I sure can understand how long 4 hours is to sit. It would be difficult for me too. Do you have a portable DVD player, or do they put on movies for you? If you had a player and Netflix for movies, that might help a little. Also, listening to music might help too, or books on tape.

Good luck.

This would be hemo dialysis.
I am scared at the idea.I was told I couldnt get a nurse insurance wont allow it.
Its a little hard to knit etc you cant move the arm the needles are in.It causes machine to ring out loud.I do have a tv but its the sitting 4 hours Im having trouble with.My back,restless legs.uuuhhhhI can hardly walk when I stand up.

it seems there should be some excercises you could do while sitting for your legs...or do you have to be perfectly still? would they allow a lap top computer? you could talk to us..at least one handed..while waiting..the time seem sto go fast when your on....