Dialyzing on planes

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Hal
Posts: 617
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:56 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Dialyzing on planes

Post by Hal »

Hi,

Has anyone done a PD exchange on a plane before ? Did they give you somewhere to do it ? Airplace toilets don't seem so hygenic to me.

I have to get two flights to get to my destination and the travelling time is so long I need to do an exchange sometime on my way.

Preferably I will do it in the airport between flights, but there might not be time. Does anyone have experience of this? Did the airline find you somewhere to dialyze? e.g. an executive lounge or a room.

There is a medical centre in the airport but its outside of security and a good distance from the gates, so I don't know if I have time to get there and back and dialyze.

And in either case: How did you warm the bag up !!!???

Hal.
amanda in CA
Posts: 1806
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 5:14 pm
Location: Georgia, USA

PD while travelling

Post by amanda in CA »

Hi, Hal, just wondered why you aren't planning to take your cycler with you? If you were to take that then you would do an exchange before you leave home and fly and then you would just be ready for the next one when you arrived. If it is issues about baggage allowance, you should be able to contact your airline and get it as an additional allowance. I flew BA and customer service were completely unhelpful but I spoke to the Medical Assistance (I think it was called) and they cleared it for me. the way I managed it when I was on CAPD years ago was just to squeeze in some extra exchanges the day before and then some extra ones when I arrived to avoid the hassle of dialysing during the journey. Amanda
Hal
Posts: 617
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:56 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Post by Hal »

Hi Amanda,

I'm taking the cycler with me. Just my nurse said I have to do an exchange on the way because its too long between - she said the extraneal can't be in for too long ???

I don't think she will let me get round this by doing the exchanges before and after - but I'll ask.

I flew BA a few months ago and they were a pain on the way out but on the way back in the USA they were brilliant, let me put the plane in the cabin in a wardrobe and gave me an upgrade (they felt sorry for me when I cheekily asked on the plane!).

This time I am going Delta. They've been OK so far - so hopefully they will at the airport. They weren't much help with the dialysis in between though, the guy I spoke to didn't know what dialysis was and eventually told me to talk to the cabin crew - I'll see what the staff have to say at check-in.

.... so I'm still unsure on where to do an exchange and how to heat the bag?
amanda in CA
Posts: 1806
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 5:14 pm
Location: Georgia, USA

airline dialysis

Post by amanda in CA »

Hi, can't understand why she says that it will be too long. What sort of membrane do you have, mine is low-medium and at the end of 12 hours I generally always get a positive I-drain volume. If your membrane is faster than mine, that may be why she is saying that, but to be honest, I wouldn't worry about it too much, just do what you are comfortable doing. Having a long gap between dialysis is not something that you would want to do on a regular basis, but as a one-off I wouldn't worry to much. You are unlikely to get overloaded since flying causes dehydration and as long as you don't go mad with what you eat you shouldn't run into any problems. I don't want to knock dialysis nurses but some of them can be a little moralistic and dictatorial about doing things the 'correct' way without considering what it really means to live the life of someone on dialysis. I think that nursing tends to attract very methodical people who like to live by rules (remember I'm one myself) and so although what they say is very well-meaning, they often fail to 'step into their patient's shoes' to understand the practicalities of what they are saying must be done. Unless you can do an exchange somewhere reasonably clean (and I'm not sure there is such a place on a plane) I would think that you are exposing yourself to greater risk by doing an exchange than not doing one. Knowing what cabin crews can be like, they may well suggest the toilet, which I would say is a definate 'no-no' from a hygiene point of view. The safest place would probably be in your own seat (preferably a window seat to avoid people barging past you, plus you can get suction hooks which you can 'lock' into place by pulling the hook down and which attach very nicely to a smooth surface such as a window for hanging a bag from. I have done an exchange before by just holding the bag up physically myself. It is pretty slow cos you don't really have enough height so it's a bit tiring but can be done if there is no-where else to hang the bag from). You would just need to explain to your fellow passengers that there is no risk to them otherwise they may be a bit leary about you doing it beside them. As to heating the bag, it is possible to use a bag at room temperature although it can be a bit crampy draining in. When I have done room temp. exchanges, I have had to turn the flow right down to minimise this, but it saves the pain of having to lug around a hot water bottle. From a personal viewpoint, had I been advised to do an exchange on the flight when I flew back earlier in the year, unless there were specific issues such as hard-to-control high potassium, I must admit that I would have skipped it to avoid the extra hassle that doing it would entail. Amanda
Hal
Posts: 617
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:56 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Post by Hal »

Thank you for the advice Amanda.

I spoke to my nurse today and suggested I do extra exchanges the day before the journey and after it (for both ways).

She agreed that would be fine and is better than dialysing somewhere unsanitary like a toilet.

Hal.
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