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jj-lynn21 · 1 year

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I just saw a news report on Dialysis that made it look like death sentence. It is not. I am currently on Dialysis and have been on and off my entire life. I started Dialysis when I was 9. The biggest thing is to follow the special diet they put you on.

There is fluid restrictions, no dairy, you can not eat anything with high phosphorus or hight potassium. I cut out most processed foods. I drink about 25ozes a day. This is because your healthy kidneys get rid of all that & the Dialysis machine can only pull off a small amount without taxing your body.

I drive myself to & from dialysis 3 days a week. I am on the machine for 3 hours. I was on 6 hours when I started, but because I am good at my dialysis diet my time was lowered.

It is a long wait for a transplant. I received a kidney from my dad when I was 10 , so I was only on Dialysis a year the first time. I went to the dentist before Jr high high and he was going to fix my teeth. I have no enamel due to medications. I had a tiny abscess that went to kidney & killed it within 24 hours.

I was on Dialysis 10 years after that before getting another kidney that lasted 23 years. By the way I went to school after or before Dialysis during that time. I graduated high school & started college. I think of Dialysis as more of an inconvenience than anything else. I sit there & watch TV. I would probably be doing that at home.

Dialysis is not painful. I have a great fistula that they do stick needles in but the skin is numb so you don't really feel it. I just relax and let it clean my blood.

Now if you choose not to follow the special diet you could have issues with high potassium which gives you terrible charlie horse cramps. I have seen people get them bad so for me it is worth giving up French fries & cheese.

I still take my dog for walks even right when I get home from dialysis. I seem to get a burst of energy right after. I can go on vacations, & just set up appointments at a dialysis center closest to where I am vacationing. If done right it makes you feel better.

The end goal is eventually another kidney transplant, or if I am really lucky I can try out the artificial kidney they are working on. That's my dream. But until that time dialysis is not a death sentence. It is just a way of life. To stay slive.

#dialysis #my dialysis #person story #dialysis is not a death sentence #happy dialysis patient #dialysis patient #chronic rensl failure

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