What is home dialysis?
Home dialysis is a kidney disease treatment you can complete from the comfort of your home. Your Kidney360 specialist assists you with the process initially, so you can eventually perform the procedure independently. Home dialysis replaces the work healthy kidneys normally do, using a specialized filtering system to remove waste and excess fluid from your blood.
Am I a good candidate for home dialysis?
To find out if you’re a candidate for home dialysis, your Kidney360 provider reviews your medical history and asks about your symptoms and lifestyle. They might recommend you undergo blood tests, urine tests, ultrasound, or a kidney biopsy.
What happens during home dialysis?
During home dialysis treatment, you can expect the following:
Hemodialysis
With home hemodialysis, you or your provider places needles into vascular access in your veins. It’s connected to plastic tubing that carries blood to a dialyzer, which filters it. A dialysis machine pumps a small amount of your blood out of your body to get filtered and returns the blood afterward.
Peritoneal dialysis
With home peritoneal dialysis, you insert a special solution into your abdominal cavity through a tube to filter waste from your blood. Afterward, the solution containing the waste drains out of your body and into a bag you can empty.
What does a home dialysis schedule look like?
Your Kidney360 provider works with you to develop a personalized home dialysis treatment and schedule that best meets your needs, health, preferences, and lifestyle.
They might recommend you complete home dialysis three times weekly for several hours at a time, shorter daily dialysis sessions five to seven times weekly, or nocturnal home dialysis at night while you sleep.
Depending on your schedule, your specialist might recommend you combine daily with nocturnal home dialysis treatments. Kidney360 providers give you a voice in your care.
Must I undergo home dialysis forever?
Usually, if you have chronic kidney problems, home dialysis is a lifelong commitment unless you undergo kidney transplantation. If you have acute kidney issues, you might only require dialysis on a short-term basis.
To learn more about home dialysis options at Kidney360, call the office or book an appointment online today.
