Kidney Patient Guide

chris_russ, sorry taken so long to come back to this thread. When my wife dialysed at the old unit the chairs/beds were quite close together so it was more social in a way. I would turn up and the patients would be nattering away as if they were sat in someone's lounge. I would not stay all the sess...

Suzy, sorry about your disappointment. Onlyy consolation is that someone benefitted from a donation by a very, very kind relative who had just lost someone. My wife was called in twice within a fortnight in April 2004. Both times to be told after all the tests that her anti-bodies were too high. Sin...

Mike,

reference coffee, do you drink filter or instant? Theresa will only drink filter which she has been told is better. She went to a pub the other day(one of a national chain), asked if the coffee was filter, was told yes only to discover afterwards it was Nescafe! She was not impressed.

Bill

Hello Joe and welcome, my wife dialyses and she can tell when she has reached the point where too much is being taken off. Her blood pressure drops and she feels really hot. Either she goes into minimum for a short while or has 100ml fluid back. Cramp is another sysmptom. Good luckon sorting your pr...

Mal, you may have misread me or perhaps I didn't write things clearly(it was late, thats my excuse anyway). Nothing in your post led me to believe you were selfish. I thought that you asked pertinant questions. If you can't get answers from the staff at your unit where the heck are you going to get ...

Amanda, dialysis patients are exempt from all prescription charges whilst on dialysis. If they undergo a transplant eventually they have to revert to paying for their prescriptions. I know that it should be appreciated that they have been given another chance but the costs for the anti-rejection dru...

Mal, before my wife started on Haemo I was totally unaware of the whys and wherefores of transplants. I think that the situation at present seems to be the only fair one, where the best possible match gets the nod. As the shortage of donated kidneys is so much less than the number needed, everyone n...

The main thing that I find difficult is that you can carry a donor card, tell everyone any organs can be used in the event of your death, and if the relative who is asked says no that is it!! As for the publicity about UK Transplant Week. Most people don't seem to see it. It appears to me that only ...

Kevin, my wife has a fistula in her upper right arm. Not normally the one to choose apparently if you are right handed. They did try and fit one on her left wrist, but because she is quite small-framed they had trouble getting a suitable site. She is very protective of her fistula as she says it is ...

I stay with my wife(we play scrabble, cards, do crosswords, watch tv etc) when she does her two evening sessions. If I am on holiday/leave I will also sit with her on her early Friday session. The staff at our renal unit are brilliant and never ever prevent family or friends , within reason, from st...

Kevin and Janet, my wife has been on HD for about 7 years now. Originally CAPD, then after a failed transplant she started HD. She is absolutely terrified of needles. Cannot bear to look at them. She has lignocaine every time, even though the staff(who are brilliant) tease her there isn't any left! ...

Mal, as a bloke(but not a renal patient) I find it so difficult to comprehend when I hear of people who are at a very 'needy' stage(sorry if that sounds wrong)of their life being left alone. My wife and I have been together since we were teenagers(been married now for 28 years) and when she was diag...

Mike, thanks for the welcome. We are only just along the road in Portsmouth. My wife used to take Phosex. How do you find it? As for having a rough time, we have been through some 'fun' times but there is always somebody who is having it worse. Makes me feel bad when a young patient is on HD as they...

Apologies as I posted the following in the introduction posts(doh!) My wife Theresa is on hd and has been since 1998. She takes Renagel (like a lot of people I expect). Can someone please answer a couple of questions for me? a)how soon after taken Renagel do they start to work? b)how long do they wo...

Hello to all. I have just joined. My wife is the one having to endure haempodialysis(although I do try and sit with her as much as possible- she does two twilight and one early shift each week) She contracted a kidney infection as a child and eventually her kidneys failed in 1996. She started on CAP...