Renal failure is imminent for those that do not receive kidney dialysis treatments. These life-saving treatments circulate impurities out of the blood as the blood travels through the kidneys. Normal healthy kidneys filter and remove blood toxins and impurities from the blood, and send these toxins and impurities out with the urine.
However, patients requiring dialysis have diseased kidneys or kidneys that no longer function as they once did and should. If you find that you need dialysis going forward in life, it is not a death sentence. In fact, dialysis is no longer an outpatient hospital procedure either. You do not have to concern yourself with taking three days off from work every week to receive your treatments. Here is why.
The Baxter Dialysis Machine
Home dialysis machines such as this one now deliver dialysis treatments to patients at home. A nurse will initially train you on how to give yourself your treatments. If you are going to have a family member help you with treatment, that family member will have to attend the training meeting as well. The nurse will show you how to set everything up, and how to plug yourself into the machine to receive your treatment fluids. The machine itself is no longer a massive vertical siphoning instrument like those used in hospitals. Now, it is the size of a large computer printer, which means the machine can fit in your home, right near your bed.
The Treatment Itself
You have to consistently monitor your weight, salt intake, blood pressure, edema in your legs, and body temperature. All of these vitals dictate how much dialysis fluid is needed to flush your kidneys. Once you are properly connected to the machine and you have pressed "start" for your treatment, the full treatment takes eight or more hours to complete. Most patients prefer to complete their treatments while they sleep, allowing them to get up in the morning fully rested and fully treated and ready to start their days. Since you are sleeping through the treatment, your treatments never interfere with your work schedule or anything else you need to do on a daily basis.
The end result is that ALL of your dialysis treatments are completed by you at home. There are no more hospital visits to make after you have had the peritoneal surgery that places the necessary dialysis tubing through your abdominal wall to the kidneys. A few times a year you will visit your nephrologist for blood tests, and that is it.
