Kidney Patient Guide

Sympathise. Next time if you have typed a lot try copying it before submitting. Sometimes it doesnt always post and asks you for your password then if you have copied you can post as soon as you are back in on the topic. Some centres seem to have different attitudes as to when you go on the transpla...

As I came round the corner with my office in sight a bloke says to me "cheer up". He didnt get a friendly response! Why did my face look like a boot? Only because I am still recovering from (minor) surgery on my leg which has been much more painful than I expected. The thing is how I look ...

Hi Fabrette If later you decide to do PD and an exchange at work then my experience might be helpful. As for you the wash room was along the corridor but I found it easy enough to do the hand wash, hold my hands up and using the paper towel (provided by hospital supplies) to dry my hands and open a ...

Hi everyone. When I read Amanda's post starting this topic I just took it that she was asking a rhetorical question and not really looking for advice on how to cope with this. At times there are more bad days than good days and this is the place where you can come when things seem overwhelming. The ...

Hi Carol I suppose I was thinking about DLA. But when I was on dialysis my renal counsellor told me that about a third of patients were working. I dont think end stage renal failure necessarily makes one incapable of working - so much depends on the individual is and the type of employment, the empl...

Unless they have contact with people on dialysis I dont think medical professionals have much idea of what a crap deal it is for a lot of people !!!

As far as I picked up in the last 6 years - lots of kidney patients frequently fail to get benefits on first application. It often needs specialist help in filling out the forms to answer the questions. The trouble with our illness is that it is largely unseen & as we know from valiant attempts ...

hmmm maybe he misunderstood. surely a 24 hr collection gets taken to the hospital and they take a sample? the thing to remember is that you are in a completely different space/place. And possibly like anything which happens to us medically it's of great interest to the individual - it's just we the ...

Hi yachtman Even if she is doing the APD overnight machine ashore she could also do manual bag changes on board. The supplies might also be smaller in quantity. I have only seen big bags for the APD machine. For a manual bag change all you need is enough power for the bag warmer (I forget how much b...

hmmm this is exactly what I thought after my tx. So after a while I tried coming off but still got reflux. Was able to reduce it from 30mg to 15mg. But last year I had an endoscopy (for another reason) & it showed that I had Barrets osesphagosus. My lansoprozole was changed to 40mg of oesmeprozo...

Oh Amanda, am sorry. But the thing about statistics is that they relate to a population and not to a specific individual. They say something about the broad range of outcomes. The stats I mentioned were given at a transplant seminar at my unit so are relevant to that population in particular. Helen

After three years on dialysis there could only be upside in my mind as I approached the transplant date. The darkest time was when my first live donor withdrew. They tell you all the downsides but it's important to put them into context. At our unit the 10 year life expectancy of a transplanted kidn...

Just been issued with 2 lots of antibiotics for 5 days and reading leaflet see they must not be stored above 25 degrees. So checked other pills & most of mine carry same warning except for esomeprezole (Nexium) which is not above 30 degrees. Last night temperature was 25 deg on 1st floor and fel...

This happened to my husband - he got swollen ankles & doesnt have kidney failure. Then the hospital consultant asked if he'd go on it again so they could measure the effects. Takes time for the swelling to go down. Our friend, a former vet specialising in mending racehorses legs, said it would t...

Chris Kendall talked to me the other day about being an altruistic kidney donor. Read about him here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... gan-donors

Helen