Jane McClure and I were delighted to present "Arranging Your Life When Dialysis Comes Home" yesterday afternoon at the International Dialysis Conference in Seattle. We focused on setting up a Home Dialysis Center that is safe and efficient--but also, one that integrates INTO the home without taking it over completely.
We also focused on Caregiver Issues. While I understand the more "politically correct" term is now "Care Partner," the issues remain: somebody in the family of the "Dialyzor" is heavily invested in making dialysis go better...in whatever form that takes.
And because this investment has the potential to detract from the Caregiver/partner's quality of life, we KNOW it's important to address!
Our conference participants seemed to agree, indicating "it's about time" that these isssues are formally--if perhaps bluntly--addressed!
Having delivered hundreds and hundreds of babies over the years, I've learned that we're better off telling our pregnant patients that labor is/can be painful....but that there are tools to help them make it through! And the results are worth it.
Same thing with Home Dialysis: there will be challenges, but there are solutions and plenty of people to help. And the results are well worth the effort in so many ways.
So let's begin by telling it like it is...our community will be better served, our ESRD folks with be healthier, and their relationships ARE more likely to thrive!
Take care. Linda Gromko, MD
Addendum: to those who have asked about my husband, Steve Williams: Steve has been in the hospital since Tuesday of last week. On Thursday, he had a Cardiac Catheterization to place a stent in a narrowed vessel.. Unfortunately, Steve's pain was refractory, and an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump was placed to help reduce the workload of his heart and to increase the filling of his coronary vessels, i.e. the vessels which feed the heart muscle. Now, we have a new challenge. Steve's aortic valve is reaching a critical degree of narrowing, and he will likely require a surgery sooner than later.
So, I did my Conference presentation with Jane, and took off immediately to return to the CCU. I didn't make contact with a lot of the folks I'd wanted to meet....but Steve's situation trumped even the 30th Annual International Dialysis Conference!
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