Kidney Disorders Community

Hello Wpooh27 and welcome!

I understand about the "stubborn man" syndrome! Here's a WebMD resource to give you basic information. I know the members here will chime in to give you more "real life" information:

Dialysis for Kidney Disease

Please do keep coming here for information and support!

Yours in health,

Haylen

I'm going to be brutally frank: "stubborn" and "dialysis" just do not go together.

More than half of the success of dialysis therapy is in the hands of the patient. The nurses and technicians usually see the patient 4 hours, 3 times a week. All the other hours are in the control of the patient. All the changes to diet and fluid consumption are the patient's responsibility, and this stuff makes dialysis succeed or fail. "Non-compliant" patients will never get a shot at a transplant; and most non-compliant patients die a lot sooner than those who work as partners with the doc and the nurses. No cutting corners, no missing appointments, no getting slack about diet. But it's a life and death situation; it has to be taken seriously.

I will admit that getting started on dialysis really sucks; it's rough on the body, and most folks feel really bad for a while. But it gets better as the first weeks go by.

Now for the positive things: it can work and can work well. It may be the only option to save a patient from an early death. And these days there are options available to make it safer and more convenient, like the ability to do the treatment at home (although this demands a VERY involved, proactive patient.)

I did it for more than 4 years before I got a transplant, and it was miserable at first, but it got to be a manageable situation.

There is a lot to learn, but the bottom line is this: it's life-saving.

Thanks that does help me. I was worried about how well the dialysis was going to help him. The doctors said that he might not even qualify for a transplant because of how badly controlled his diabieties was. They have finally got them under a little bit of controll. I guess what scares me the most is that i may lose my husband to kidney failure. that terrifies me very much. i dont want to even leave him and go to work but i have to make money to pay bills.

Thank you and i will keep coming here. I check it alot when i am at work. Becuase i work midnights.

The onset of renal disease is scary for the whole family; it affects the way that an entire family functions. And for the patient, it represents a big loss of independence, freedom.

But with enough time and support, most patients adapt and lead good lives.

One other thing that you eventually need to get going (depending on his age) is Medicare. There is a special sub-chapter of US Medicare law that will cover a whole lot of dialysis related costs, regardless of how old the patient is. Patients could be 28 or 82 but it still applies to cases of renal disease. But you have to apply for it and go through all the waiting for approval. It can take quite a few weeks/months before it kicks in. But without it, dialysis is incredibly expensive, so it really helps. Your nephrologist or the social worker at a dialysis center or hospital should have all the info and documents that need to be filed.

Just try to stay flexible and keep moving ahead, and try to keep your husband moving ahead towards a longer, better life.

He has medicare. He is getting disability and when he got approved for that after us fighting with them they gave him medicare. i will keep that in mind. I try to be there for him and stay strong sometimes it is hard but i try.