[projekktor id=’11915′]
You may not realize it, but today is World Kidney Day. And for the estimated 10-thousand Ontario residents living on dialysis, the kidney is an organ worthy of celebration — and so are the available treatment options, when the kidney isn’t so healthy.
43-year old christine stone’s carefully decorated bedroom has become a storage area. stacked boxes line three of the rooms 4 walls. their contents however, are keeping christine alive. 6-months ago, she was rushed to hospital with difficulty breathing: “I couldn’t breathe so I ended up at the General ER and they said I had fluid in the lungs, and I was in heart failure and kidney failure.”
She was quickly treated for the breathing and cardiac issues, but it was clear Christine would need dialysis: “I was given the option for peritoneal or hemodialysis. And they explained that peritoneal is a lot less invasive on the body.”
Hemo dialysis is more widely known. Usually done in the hospital about 3-times a week, blood is removed from the patient. Cleaned of excess fluids and toxins, and returned to the body. Nephrologist Dr. Scott Brimble says the peritoneal form involves a catheter in the abdomen: “We put in some very specialized fluids into the abdominal space, leave it there for a period of time. And then it can be removed. And it does the same thing it removes the toxins and excess fluids but instead of using a dialysis machine we’re using the patients natural membrane that lines the abdomen.”
Though the process takes 8-hours, it’s done nightly, in home, while the patient is sleeping.
Christine said: “It was hard at first. I was a stomach sleeper. And you get scared that you’re going to get caught up in the tubes or you’re going to tug the tube out.”
But Christine says St. Joseph’s dialysis team is a great support system: “The first night we did have a problem and I called the nurses on nephrology and they walked me thru step by step on what to do.”
And though it may not look portable, peritoneal dialysis allows patients to travel: “We have a trip booked for April 1 to Mexico. Baxter the company who delivers the supplies will deliver my supplies right to the resort.”
Christine’s dialysis days may be short lived. her aunt is in the testing process and may be a suitable kidney donor. If all goes well, surgery could happen in June.
