well, he looks just fine.

Date:   8/26/2009 3:56:15 PM ( 15 y ago)

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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