What Peritoneal Dialysis Is Like

There are two main types of dialysis, hemodialysis and peritoneal.  

Hemodialysis is the one most common therapy people think of when dialysis is mentioned and consists of an artificial kidney machine (dialyzer) that cleans the blood.  The patient has an access point (usually the arm but can be the neck or elsewhere) where the machine hooks up.  Many people go in to a dialysis clinic three times a week and are assisted by staff for dialysis; doing hemodialysis is also an option to do at home if the patient is willing and able, and is often preferable because it can be done daily.

Peritoneal dialysis, which is the therapy I chose, is when the patient cleans their blood by utilizing their own peritoneal membrane to filter.  This is typically done at home, every day.  When I began dialysis I was trained in the manual/gravity method that is done throughout the day, seen below.

A few weeks later, my dialysis machine came and I trained to use the automated peritoneal dialysis machine, which performs my need dialysis while I sleep:

I am very grateful to be able to continue living using this therapy, but it is time consuming and must be done every day.  There are no days off for a person with kidney failure.  Gone are the days when I can just go to sleep when I am tired--there is a meticulous routine I must adhere to every night before I can settle in, and I have to have all my supplies (chapstick, reading material, computer, phone) at the ready because I am tethered to the machine all night until therapy is done (for me that is 10 hours).

A typical diet for a peritoneal dialysis patient consists of a continuous balancing act of getting enough protein and potassium, and limiting phosphorus and sodium.  Phosphorus is in practically all food, but especially prevalent in certain organ meats, cheeses, and processed foods, all of which I must either eat sparingly or eliminate from my diet.  On the plus side, I'm becoming a better cook, since I have to do so much of it.

I must also take blood pressure medicine, over-the-counter heartburn medication (because the physical process of peritoneal dialysis pushes up against my upper organs, causing heartburn symptoms), a gout medication (as gout was brought on by my kidney's inability to deal with the constant protein I have to eat), and the occasional vitamin supplementation.  All these medications have their side effects, and while we have good health insurance the costs still add up.