- Golden Moments by LightLizard
15 y
3,842 6 Messages Shown
Blog: LightLizard's Lair
It's not easy being happy as a dialysis patient. Most people who have no experience of dialysis, or kidney disease in general, have no idea what a dialysis patient goes through day to day and night to night.
People look at me and think 'he looks alright, I guess dialysis has cured him.'
The fact is that dialysis is definitely NOT a 'cure' for kidney failure, or any other medical condition.
Dialysis is a TREATMENT that is intended to keep a patient alive until a kidney becomes available for transplant or until the patient dies. Most dialysis patients who stay on dialysis for an extended period of time (which varies from patient to patient) develop other health problems that eventually kill them.
Dialysis only does about 13 to 15 percent of what healthy kidneys do. Healthy kidneys regulate fluid in the body and help to remove toxins from the system. This is why some dialysis patients, or people with kidney disease retain water, and sometimes swell up in different parts of the body.
Usually, the feet swell first, but some of us often have a complete swelling of the entire body due to fluid retention. Fluid can also collect around the heart, which can cause all manner of problems for the patient. One of those problems is heart disease, which is the leading cause of most dialysis patients' demise.
When you are on dialysis and reliant on it to stay alive there are often issues that come up that were never a problem before; joint pain is one problem. General weakness and lethargy are some others.
Consistency of one's energy level is almost impossible to control for the dialysis patient. So to commit to a regular routine, a job or an educational course of some kind is pretty much out of the picture.
You might feel fine for a few days in a row, but eventually, and usually sooner than later, you will find it necessary to call in sick and just stay in bed until your energy returns.
There aren't many medical professionals that really understand kidney failure. What I have noticed often
in many so-called 'professional caregivers' is that an attitude seems to grow in them. An attitude that says that the person they are treating is a flawed human, less that they, barely worthy of respect, as if their condition was their fault, a choice they made. Luckily, there are a few exceptions to that rule. Not everyone that is in the medical field is so unthinking.
Kidney failure destroys your life. It takes away your profession, your ability to function as an active individual. It robs you of the pleasures that most people take for granted; making love to your partner, strenuous exercise becomes impossible. One's diet becomes extremely restricted. For some, even the ability to walk becomes an unsurmountable obstacle.
Finding happiness as a dialysis patient is a great challenge. Contentment is out of reach and the acceptance of that reality is essential if one is to actually get on with their life.
The best one can do is to stay in the moment and just appreciate those fleeting passing moments of joy that we all experience.
Without my music, I would have no reason to go on. For me, when I am creating a musical piece and playing it, that is my Golden Moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02E3t_O0TVQ
Avoid salt and excessive sugar intake. Diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure. High blood pressure is the second major cause.
Both diabetes and high blood pressure are on the rise in the population. Consequently, so is kidney disease.
There are no coincidences.
A simple blood test could save your life and keep you from a shortened life of pain and suffering. Don't wait. Get tested TODAY!
Peace to All
~LL~
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LightLizard
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- Re: Golden Moments by Free2Day
15 y
3,094
- Re: Golden Moments by LightLizard
15 y
2,979
thanks for the info free2day.
i wouldn't self medicate. there are too many restrictions in the article, though. i must take extra calcium and protein is a must too. dialysis removes toxins from the system, but it also removes a lot of the necessary stuff too, so i have to replenish my body daily with food and supplements.
i do appreciate your intention t hough, very much.
thank you.
LL
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LightLizard
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- This is me venting to all those with chonic illness who mismanage their ... by #99776
15 y
3,061
Hey Light Lizard,
I just have to say something here which may have nothing to do with your situation. Your post was the first I found on CZ and I am fresh from a visit with a severely ill family member.
I have a sister who recently started dialysis due to mismanaged diabetes. Despite being in such poor health, she continues to burn the candle at both ends, exposes herself to fumes from paint (she is an artist) as well as gas leaks from the stove (she seemed offended that I should mention it to her) and perfumes from conventional laundry soap (even though it is hard on her already overworked glands).
My sister stays up all night socializing and sleeps all day when she can, in between the multitude of doctors' appointments. She still eats salted treats. She was drinking unfiltered water until I got her a new cartridge for a defunct filter though she could have purchased one. She is living the lifestyle she had which lead her to this terrible point in her life and honestly, I find it difficult to feel sympathy after what I have seen. What do folks who severely neglect themselves expect? That staying alive is going to still be comfortable and easy when the host has and is actively subjecting it to abuse?
It is like she is a drug addict when it is self abuse and neglect in the form of immediate gratification that is the fix.
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- Re: This is me venting to all those with chonic illness who mismanage th... by LightLizard
15 y
3,126
yes, i understand your frustration. many people that develop serious health issues don't really accept their situation fully. some have a more difficult time with sudden and dramatic change than others. too many insist on keeping things the way they were when such a mentality can only lead to disaster.
dialysis is not a cure for kidney failure. it is a treatment. many die while on dialysis because they don't respect the fact that their life has changed.
the average life span of a dialysis patient is around 6 years (on dialysis). it is quite apparent that those who become known as 'the exception to the rule' are those who
take their condition seriously enough to make drastic changes in their daily habits. diet is very important to a dialysis patient and to purposly ignore the effects of food on the body is purely suicidal.
my condition is due to receiving a blood transfusion at the age of two to save me from pernicious anemia. in 1951, there was no knowledge of hepatitis C in canada, and some of that blood i was given contained that virus. it stayed with me for 50 years before knocking me down.
i hope your sister realises that she does have some measure of control over her health, but if she ignores the dietary restrictions that kidney failure demands, she is only hurting herself and her family in the long run and won't be around very long. denial is a long river with many bodies in it.
nevertheless, i wish you and yours
all the best
LL
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LightLizard
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