What is Dialysis...?
a VERY basic explainer of the treatment for kidney failure
Hi Readers, I’m back with another very basic explainer. Let me know if you have questions in the comments!
What is dialysis??
Okay, you might think, I know my friend Taylor was on dialysis, as well as my aunt or cousin or grandfather or mother-in-law or the woman who used to run the carwash next to my workplace … and I see them around as commonly as Starbucks… but what exactly IS IT?
Yeah, I didn’t have any idea what it was either… until I needed it.
Dialysis is a treatment for people with kidney failure. Its basic goal is to remove fluid and waste in your blood when your kidneys cannot. It also supports healthy blood pressure.
It’s a very effective treatment, but it doesn’t cure kidney function and must be repeated throughout the week for a handful of hours.
It was invented in the 1940’s by a Dutch doctor for acute kidney damage, the kind that comes on suddenly like mine.
In the 1960’s the first clinic for chronic kidney failure opened.
How does it work?
There are a couple different kinds of dialysis: Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Hemodialysis works by using a machine with a filter. The filter has two parts, one for your blood and the other for a washing fluid called dialysate. It’s made of water, electrolytes and salt.
A thin semi permeable membrane in the machine is used to separate these parts. That means it’s like a strainer… like when you make pasta. The useful parts of your blood like proteins and red blood cells are too big to pass through the membrane like the spaghetti in a strainer, but the smaller waste products like creatinine and potassium continue through and are washed away. Also unwanted fluid is filtered out and discarded.
This process is performed by a hospital or dialysis facility.
Peritoneal dialysis can be done in a facility or at home for convenience. In this version of the process, your own body is used as the filter. You have a tube inserted in your belly. The belly is slowly filled with the dialysate or washing fluid. The washing fluid works like a magnet to pull the waste. The fluid is then drained from the tube.
(If you’re wondering why I didn’t do peritoneal, it’s because my multiple abdominal surgeries made me an unsuitable candidate).
90% of patients use a dialysis center for treatment.
Okay, give me the hard info. What is the life expectancy?
It varies. I hate to be a bummer, but I will say, folks on dialysis often wait 8+ years for a kidney from the donor list… but there’s a 5-10 year life expectancy while undergoing this treatment. That’s rough math. Sometimes folks who are older age out of being a kidney candidate unfortunately.
Which is why it’s very important to consider organ donation.
Did you find this helpful? Anything else that has been confusing? Let me know! I can try to explain it… but know, I’m not a doctor. I got a theatre degree and a dance minor and I work in podcasting- but I do like making confusing things clear!
Thank you to Richard Burwick, MD and Roy Lenn for your founding level donation!
If you’re new here and wondering, “what happened to this lady?” read The Fighter Still Remains Part 1. xo