Re:Ont. looks to B.C. while considering reimbursing people who donate l

[Guest guest]

I just read these comments about dialysis and found them a little harsh. End Stage Renal Disease with subsequent dialysis is not easy diagnosis but should not be dismissed as "living death". I'm a renal RN working in dialysis for 20 years (before I ever imagined I'd be on a transplant list myself.) Although I agree that a kidney transplant is the best option and always encourage my pre ESRD and ESRD patients to pursue it, it is not always a viable option for everyone (comorbid conditions can make patients poor surgical risks.) Here in NY there is an average 7 year wait for cadaver kidneys so both hemodialysis (HD) and Peritoneal Dialysis (PD - a form of home dialysis) performs a valuable service for those people who do not have a living related donor. I currently run the PD program at our facility and I believe it to be a wonderful and gentle form of dialysis. It allows patients to spend more time at home with family, avoid hospitalizations, improves quaility of life and encourages independence. By referring to dialysis as a living death, you discount both those individuals who are living productive, happy lives despite a very difficult chronic condition and those health care workers who are doing our best to facilitate their care. I would hate to think that someone facing renal failure or having a family member in that position would read these remarks and become discouraged. It is not a death sentence.

By the way, I worked until the day I was called for transplant. When I returned, several patients told me that seeing how healthy I looked and acted after transplant gave them hope that they too could resume a normal life after transplant.

April PSC 1993, Tx 2005

Can’t afford to quit your job? – Earn your AS, BS, or MS degree online in 1 year.

[Guest guest]

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Message-----

I just read these comments about dialysis and found them a little

harsh. End Stage Renal Disease with subsequent dialysis is not

easy diagnosis but should not be dismissed as " living death " .

The person who made

that comment is a doctor in Canada, who certainly has more than his fair share of

personal experience dealing with both sides of the transplant process. I would imagine too, that things are very

different in Canada, than they are in New York. Transplant hospitals

there are fewer and farther between and often require people to travel great

distances.

I can identify…..after

driving 2 hours this morning to get to the hospital, Ken’s blood work took a total of 8 minutes. Then it was another 2 hours to get back

home. If we had to do this 3x a

week (or more) for dialysis, it would be much more than an inconvenience and we

all know how these kinds of days leave everyone (even the caretakers) so tired. I can’t even imagine what kind of

toll it would take on us and I would probably call it a living death.

While I agree with you

that a transplant isn’t always a viable option, the article was solely about

recruiting more volunteers, so that more organs could be transplanted and dialysis

could be avoided except in a limited few.

In no way was the article or Aubrey’s comments derogatory to those

who work in the field, after all he does too. The article hit it right on – we need

more organs and any way and any thing the government can do to move this issue

to the front burner the better off we will all be.

Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son Ken (32) UC 91 - PSC 99 Listed 7/21 @ Baylor Dallas

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