Starting Life On Dialysis
On my last doctor appointment with my father, the doctor said we had to start talking about dialysis. My only concern is that my father is almost 90. His motto in life is - to live as long as you can and die when you can't help it.
My thought is that he has to learn a new lifestyle and get on a regular schedule. In my mind, he is old and just doesn't have the energy for all of this. He thinks I am wrong.
My question for you is if you or young or old what is the biggest adjustment you have to make to your lifestyle when starting something new like dialysis?
I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Hi
, sending my love and support to both you and your father in these hard times.
For me personally when I started dialysis was getting used to the feeling of the treatment as I did hemodialysis, I had to get to adjust my diet and fluids which was hard as i couldn’t eat or go to certain restaurants because of the restrictions of food and fluids.
The pump speed on the machine which always made me feel so tired change not being able to do what I did before starting treatment; I had to get into a routine which was much easier as I had dialysis always schedule the same days and times.
Which made it easier to plan thing around my treatment but also meant I wouldn’t be able to certain things even if I wasn’t dialysis at the time because I didn’t have the energy to endure even getting out of bed tbh.
With dialysis your lifestyle is a hit and miss you have good days and bad days i was proud of the fact I could even get out of bed to make a sandwich but the more regular I went for treatment and the more my body got used to the routine around a year later I utilised my weekends off to do all the things in my capabilities on them days.
Things always start out hard but like anything your body will adapt to it of course everyone is different but for lifestyle wise it’s mind over matter. You can do anything within your limitation’s, it’s important to remember to only things you and your doctor have agreed upon.
Thanks Sabad
(team member)Hello
, Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I am going to look further into this. He will be 90 in March. I just don't want these golden years to be bad ones living on a machine. Right now he does what he wants, he even still drives. Not far of course, down the street to the corner store.
Thanks for sharing some of your journey with us and keep on moving forward.
