Dr. Girish Narayen, my nephrologist suggested I try daily home hemodialysis. I started looking it up on the internet. I found a lot of positive comments about this. I started digging deeper.
I could not find any references of daily home hemodialysis being done in India. However, I did find out that there were a very small number of people doing dialysis at home. But only the regular twice or thrice a week sessions.
Also, in the US, apparently, there is an entire infrastructure set up to manage emergencies. In fact, some centers also have online monitoring of the dialysis treatment performed at home.
Here, in India, of course, no such infrastructure is present. That was one of the risks. But I thought I could get a dialysis technician to come home and do the treatment for me. The dialysis technician at the hospital I was undergoing dialysis in was very good at his work.
I thought this through completely. I thought about the pros and cons. I had to rely a lot on the posts in mailing lists and forums on the internet. It was abundantly clear that daily nocturnal dialysis - 7-8 hours every night, 6 to 7 nights a week offered the best outcomes in terms of well being, longevity, minimizing co-morbidities (side effects of kidney disease like heart conditions etc.). The next best was short daily dialysis (2-4 hours every day, 6 to 7 days a week). The worst was the 4 hours thrice a week regimen.
There was no one I could contact who was doing daily dialysis in India. So, I could not get first hand, the experience of the Indian situation. This was quite unnerving.
I was clear about one thing though. I did not want to continue the way I was. I could not tolerate this at all. I needed a better life.
I decided to go for it.
Part 3
I could not find any references of daily home hemodialysis being done in India. However, I did find out that there were a very small number of people doing dialysis at home. But only the regular twice or thrice a week sessions.
Also, in the US, apparently, there is an entire infrastructure set up to manage emergencies. In fact, some centers also have online monitoring of the dialysis treatment performed at home.
Here, in India, of course, no such infrastructure is present. That was one of the risks. But I thought I could get a dialysis technician to come home and do the treatment for me. The dialysis technician at the hospital I was undergoing dialysis in was very good at his work.
I thought this through completely. I thought about the pros and cons. I had to rely a lot on the posts in mailing lists and forums on the internet. It was abundantly clear that daily nocturnal dialysis - 7-8 hours every night, 6 to 7 nights a week offered the best outcomes in terms of well being, longevity, minimizing co-morbidities (side effects of kidney disease like heart conditions etc.). The next best was short daily dialysis (2-4 hours every day, 6 to 7 days a week). The worst was the 4 hours thrice a week regimen.
There was no one I could contact who was doing daily dialysis in India. So, I could not get first hand, the experience of the Indian situation. This was quite unnerving.
I was clear about one thing though. I did not want to continue the way I was. I could not tolerate this at all. I needed a better life.
I decided to go for it.
Part 3
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