Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Support Group
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a progressive, genetic disorder of the kidneys. It occurs in humans and other organisms. PKD is characterised by the presence of multiple cysts (polycystic) in both kidneys. The disease can also damage the liver, pancreas and rarely the heart and brain.
good morning everyone. I have just joined this discussion group, but have been monitoring it for awhile. My question is about peritoneal dialysis. My gfr rate is 15, and has steadily been going down 2 points every 3 months. I have met with a dialysis nurse, at the suggestion of my neph, and we discussed pd. I think I would like to do the manual kind, instead of overnight machine. Anyone have thoughts pro or con on the types of pd? How much of a pain is it to deal with the fluid in your body? Thanks for the uplifting thoughts I have read from everyone in this community, they sure do help.
I would say that everyone is different.... and there are pros and cons for each method. When I started out, they made me go on the manual for a couple months anyway, before they trained me on the machine.
Each person will have a different directive..... but for me, the best part of going on the night cycler machine was that I could go mostly empty in the daytime, so I didn't feel so full and could tie my shoes. It does take a lot out of your day to go through all of those exchanges. But with the night cycler, you have your whole day free.
Some folks find it hard to sleep with the noise of the machine... others can get by.... or use ear plugs.
I think that the biggest pro for the night cycler is that you only have to hook up and unhook once per day, thus having less opportunity to introduce any bacteria into your system, whereas manually, you are hooking and unhooking four times a day. That's just a lot more risk. You do NOT want to get an infection.
You can try both, and then decide. Just make sure that they put the catheter in the correct place so that you can ear your pants without interfering with the exit site.
I don't know that there is a lot of pain, once you heal from the surgery... I have had pain, but it's unusual because the catheter is too close to my bladder. There is some pinching during drains. I don't think that the folks who have never been on it (the nurses and doctors) can tell you all you need to know ahead of time, because they don't really know, and they don't know how it's going to effect you individually. Good luck!!
Blessings!
Heather
I alos had no room for the fluid due to my enlarged kidnyes. I also had a bilateral nephrectomy. I had to do hemo because after the nephrectomy, there is scar tissue all the way through the peritonium and it is basically halved in 2...unless you are able to have the kidneys removed laproscopically.
Is there a large difference in price between pd and hd?