My Life On Dialysis

So I continued to have dialysis and it soon became a routine, tuesdays,thursdays and saturdays for four hours I am plugged into a blood cleaning machine.

at the beggining there was a buzz of Dr's and changing medications, and meeting dieticians, and people coming to see me to educate me about my choices as a person with Esrf.

but now it has become just a fairly boring, repetative, slightly frustrating rountine, I have read on some websites where people describe their dialysis experiance as a normal routine like going to work, and they describe the other patients and the nurses like one big happy family.

that has not been my experiance, the hospital environment is of course clinical, as is the behaviour of the nurses, they ask me how I am doing but internally I know that they really don't give a stuff,maybe they are interested in the medical side, but to them I am a patient as apposed to a person, and that is the predominate feeling I get there.

the other patients just get on with it, some make a big deal of complaining loudly, shouting out "give me your kidney" is the favourite past time of one patient, But I try and endure it.

So I get there an I am plugged in, that process for me is an easy one, I have an access line(plastic tubey thing) in my chest, and they simply change the dressing, mess around a bit and plug me in.
then begins the long wait of four hours, sometimes I take along my laptop and write for a couple of hours, sometimes I read books or the Bible. and othertimes I just play solitare.

Occaisionaly Jesus turns up for the duration, and we just sit and chat and enjoy one anothers company.

and for the time being this routine is my life, I cant plan any holidays without arranging at least three months in advance. and the longest time I could go abroad is two weeks, that is with the nhs paying for my dialysis treatment in another country.

welcome to this frustrating part of my life.