Re: Help ? Confused

[Guest guest]

Hi

Nice to hear from you again.

I am also from the UK. I would be very concerned if a Nephrologist left it

to me to decide what type of dialysis I would like. I would concur with

Pierre that he has just mentioned this to get you used to the idea, should

you ever need to receive it. I can't believe that he was serious that you

should be left to fend for yourself, it is just a too bigger decision for

you to take on your own, and in my opinion would be totally unacceptable.

I would ring your local hospital and ask if they have a Renal Advisory Team

and ask for guidance from them. Failing that get yourself along to your GP

and discuss it with him/her. If nothing else it will ease your worries.

Good luck and keep us posted of events if you wouldn't mind.

Best wishes

Help ? Confused

Hi You may remember from previouse months that I have IGAN, and at my

last consultation, I was told to start thinking about what type of

dialysis I would like. My Neph. commented that because of my size,

6'4 " , I may not be suitable for P.D. My question is how do I find out

what type of dialysis will suit me best, I work full time. Is there

anyone that can give me any advice, or should my Neph. send me to

speak to someone. I feel as if it has been left to me, with no

advice, and the more I try to find out, the more confused I get.

Regards

[Guest guest]

Hi .

I'm not sure about the U.K. (maybe someone else can chime in here), but

here in Canada and the U.S., you would be referred for pre-dialysis

counselling of some sort, either individually or in a class setting. It

is not acceptable to just leave a patient to his own devices, and this

is usually done well in advance. The reason for this is that you may be

presented with a choice to make, and for this, you have to know the

facts. There can also be emotional issues involved with going on

dialysis. In the meantime though, the following web site can help:

http://www.kidneypatientguide.org.uk/site/dialysis.html

You are probably still a fair amount of time away from that though. If

you were imminently about to need dialysis, I'm sure your nephrologist

would have made some kind of arrangement, and would certainly have

talked about having a fistula prepared in your arm. Often, nephrologists

will use a phrase like " start thinking about it " just to prepare you

mentally for the whole idea (which I guess is what you are doing now).

There are financial implications to being on dialysis. It's pretty hard

to predict if you would be able to maintain the pace of a full-time job.

Some dialysis patients do pride themselves on being able to do that, but

if it were me, I don't think I would count on it. Kidney teams usually

include or have access to a social worker to help patients plan out the

things that have to be done, like applying for the various social

security benefits that are available. Here is another web site for a

perspective on this (and a lot of other lifestyle info):

http://www.ikidney.com/lifestyle_tips/anitem.cfm?AnnID=65

Pierre

john.furness@... wrote:

> Hi You may remember from previouse months that I have IGAN, and at my

> last consultation, I was told to start thinking about what type of

> dialysis I would like. My Neph. commented that because of my size,

> 6'4 " , I may not be suitable for P.D. My question is how do I find out

> what type of dialysis will suit me best, I work full time. Is there

> anyone that can give me any advice, or should my Neph. send me to

> speak to someone. I feel as if it has been left to me, with no

> advice, and the more I try to find out, the more confused I get.

> Regards

>

>

>