Nocturnal Dialysis 

Hi All, 

It's been a while since i updated the blog but i only try and put really useful information up on the blog so that's my excuse.

The topic of Nocturnal dialysis is floating about now allot so with myself being on Nocturnal dialysis now since early March 2014 and i must say it has really changed my life i decided i better tell you all about it and the experiences.

Ok at the start its a pain, more training in the hospital about 3 days of 8 hours yes that's days not nights i know why would you do training during the day and not night i guess it was for the reason that bloods can be taken and you get the results on the same day etc..

So whats different ? 

Apart from doing dialysis at night time  your dialysis machine needs to be setup for Nocturnal dialysis Baxter the dialysis company who look after my machine do this on behalf of the hospital.

The Machines Setting 

The blood flow will only run at 200 now so you'll see your pressures allot lower than before

The Time 

I normally do 8 - 9 hours a night sometime 9.3 hours as that's how long all my stock i use on the machine will last for

The machine is set for a max of 10 hours so that's the maxium time i can do with out doing a clean and setting up again , but why would i do that ;-) 9 hours in one night is nearly twice as much as i was doing before in 2 days.  I now do 4,5 night a week thats 36 or 45 hours a week i was only doing 4 hours 3,4 times a week a max of 16 hours if it was 4 times a week..

Heparin

I now use heparin and use it for 8.2 hours of the 9 hours there is a heparin stop time of 40 mins before you come off the machine.

The Room

My room has now a bed , initially i had the bed in the room before i went on Nocturnal dialysis, my room is not that big so i bought a 3ft, 3" bed and modified it myself to 3ft  ( and no i am not a carpenter but i've a good set of hands on me)  i post a picture soon of the room and bed, it cosy to say the least... 

The Pros

It took a while to reap the rewards as your whole routine will be very different espically if you work like me.  First you feel allot better and you'll probably need to come off phosphate binders straight away , in fact in some cases you have to add phosphate while your on treatment.. You get to eat all them good foods you had to give up, milk , yogurt etc.. these are to help level out you phosphate as it will drop after 8-9 hours of dialysis. 

With doing 8,9 hours of dialysis each night or every 2nd night like me you'll start to feeling much better you see that you much healthier and you'll have allot more energy as your eating much more normal foods...

Blood Pressure

I have always had high Blood Pressure and i mean very high since i was very young and was always on BP tablets  but now you'll never believe it but i do not take any BP tablets at all. It took a while for this to happen so don't worry if you don't see the affect straight away. 

The Cons

The big problem i had was not being scared of the needles falling out as they are in very secure but the noise of the water pump and the machine keeping me awake. It did take me a few sessions to get use to it all along with using ear plugs and turning down the alarms and light on the machine.

Well that's all for now i hope you get a bit of a insight into what its like, If you any questions regarding the of my posting please do drop me a note I'd love to hear from yea...

  

Holidays
If you're on dialysis and would like to go abroad why not get on to this web site http://www.hditravel.com/en/15.htm and get packing for your holiday i've use this contact twice and they arrange everything for your destination. All you need to do is get your paper work completed by your hospital and send it to the contact i was told by a few people "going to France you'll never get in contact with anyone" hditravel had my holiday sorted within a week. I did try myself to contact a few French hospitals and it was hopeless.

Note: you need to know the dates you're travelling from and to and pick your Dialysis days. HDI will provide you with a form to be completed by you and you hospital.

About HDI

HOLIDAY DIALYSIS INTERNATIONAL

Holiday Dialysis International is an organisation owned by Fresenius Medical Care which offers a free world-wide booking service for dialysis sessions to HD patients.

Holiday Dialysis International restores mobility to dialysis patients by providing them life-saving dialysis treatment in every corner of the globe.

Holiday Dialysis International assures the highest standards of dialysis treatments in all the dialysis units it selects for use by patients.

Holiday Dialysis International takes care of managing the direct contact between the dialysis units and each patient’s doctor for the exchange of medical information.

Holiday Dialysis International assures that the patients’ dialysis treatments are performed in line with their dialysis programmes at home to ensure a smooth continuity of dialysis care for patients whilst on holiday.

Holiday Dialysis International ensures the availability of Fresenius Medical Care machines and single use disposables in all the holiday dialysis units.

Booking with Holiday Dialysis International is the easiest and safest way for patients to ensure their dialysis sessions anywhere they would like to go in the world, either for holidays or for business.

Holiday Dialysis International grants an accurate and prompt assistance to patients both during and after the dialysis booking procedure.

Holiday Dialysis International’s service is possible thanks to the support of the partners and affiliates of the Fresenius Medical Care group.

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So far so good

So far so good tomorrow will be my fourth session at home and I've had no problems. I've settled in fine at home and getting use to it now.

I also have to put in my first order to Baxter so I'll need to do a quick stock take to see what i need having all the stock in my room make this handy as i can do it while on dialysis and it gives me something to past the time.

Sessions one at Home

Home Dialysis is now up and running, I've attached pictures off the machine, chair, stacking trolley and the RO


This is the machine as you can see it looks worst than it is but once you get to know it you'll feel allot better.

This is the RO for cleaning the water. If you look behind it you'll see a small black tank for water storage. The RO must be turned off after each dialysis session as it uses allot of water.

 Here is the stacking trolley you'll  get about one third of you stock into it. If you  manage it right it will make your life allot easier and you can manage stock control and re order from it also. Allot of the stock will last you about 6 week, other will only last 3 week. So you really need to know what to order and when. My first order is tomorrow Baxter have given me a list of date to ring in the order and when the delivery will be made.

Finally the chair and table. You also get to see the setup of the room here. Having the chair near the machine is vital so everything is at hands reach.

You can see one of the bins here also for the waste when you complete a session/.

Last 2 sessions & First Stock Delivery Expected

Were as the time gone there is only 2 more session left for me before i move home. But allot has been going on in the back ground to prepare for me to be able to do dialysis at home.


Just to recap and what you'll be expecting before you move home.


1. You'll get your bins, 1 big out side bin , 6 small bins & yellow bags
2. Stock, you'll receive your first order this should last you 3,4 weeks.
3. Dialysis machine you'll be getting this when you move from the hospital to home.
4. Chair.  you'll be getting this when you move from the hospital to home.
5. Table
6. Stacking Trolley


Am expecting all my stock tomorrow so I'll be able to update you on how much there is. And what space you'll need for it.

Builders Day 2

The second day the guys just completed the room and did the outside pipe work. They did a very tidy job and i was very please with the work man ship.


This is the finished room, the lino is non slip and i got it from a local flooring shop.

The Builders Day 1

Today the Builders came to make the modifications to the room. The first thing i seen was the new tripswtich in the hall this is the single tripswtich  thats required so that your not on the same box as the rest of the house. The Small box on the left is the new tripswtich.

The room requires a shower tray for the dialysis machine to sit on and as you can see the tray is neat and tidy. The size of the tray is roughly 4ft
by 3ft. I also required a sink in the room.

The Dialysis RO Systems has been put in place you can see it down by the rad it not completed yet. Also the electric sockets on the wall.