Am considering PD but the math seems awfully strange

I have never been on any kind of dialysis and have been exploring YouTube videos on CAPD. In one, the instructor says one uses bags of dialysate containing “2 to 3 quarts” each. I’ve also been told that one does 4 to 5 exchanges daily and saw a video where a fellow opens a box containing 2 bags. My Aetna health insurance typically sends me a 3-month supply of my meds but this would seem to be FAR different.

Using 2.1 pounds (the weight of a quart of water), 5 two-quart bags daily. and a ONE-month supply, I found that said delivery would weigh an amazing 630 pounds and the 75 boxes would require 15 trips to my porch by a UPS driver if he piled 5 boxes at a time on his dolly!!! This seems nearly totally unfeasible. Even if it could be done, I probably wouldn’t be able to open my front door and,m if I could, I’d have to hire 2 fellows to bring those boxes to my upstairs, where a floor might buckle.

Was my math in error? How do y’all get your supplies delivered?

Good question, Ron. PD supplies ARE heavy and bulky, but it’s not UPS drivers who deliver them. The drivers are hired by the companies that make the supplies, and they will bring them up stairs (if necessary) and put them where you want them to go. They will even rotate your stock to be sure you use up the older supplies first. Since you are thinking about your options, you may want to do one or more of these three things:
1). If you are on Facebook, please join our Home Dialysis Central group. We have nearly 2,000 members and LOTS of them do PD and can answer your detailed questions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HomeDialysisCentral/
2). Try our free dialysis decision aid. It will let you choose the values that are most important to you, and then see how the different types of treatment would affect those. So, if you want to keep your job, for example, you can see which options might give you the best chance. http://www.mydialysischoice.org
3). Obtain a copy of the book I wrote with Dr. Agar, Help, I Need Dialysis!. The decision aid was based on the book, which has all of the details and patient stories for each type of dialysis. It’s the lifestyle “bible” and may help you a lot right now. http://www.lifeoptions.org/help_book.

Dori

[QUOTE=Dori Schatell;23350]Good question, Ron. PD supplies ARE heavy and bulky, but it’s not UPS drivers who deliver them. The drivers are hired by the companies that make the supplies, and they will bring them up stairs (if necessary) and put them where you want them to go. They will even rotate your stock to be sure you use up the older supplies first. Since you are thinking about your options, you may want to do one or more of these three things:
1). If you are on Facebook, please join our Home Dialysis Central group. We have nearly 2,000 members and LOTS of them do PD and can answer your detailed questions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HomeDialysisCentral/
2). Try our free dialysis decision aid. It will let you choose the values that are most important to you, and then see how the different types of treatment would affect those. So, if you want to keep your job, for example, you can see which options might give you the best chance. http://www.mydialysischoice.org
3). Obtain a copy of the book I wrote with Dr. Agar, Help, I Need Dialysis!. The decision aid was based on the book, which has all of the details and patient stories for each type of dialysis. It’s the lifestyle “bible” and may help you a lot right now. http://www.lifeoptions.org/help_book.

Dori[/QUOTE]

I clicked on joining That Facebook group but then it didn’t show up among my groups. Went back and it is a CLOSED group.

I just moved to PD from in clinic hemo at the first of June of this year. There are several facts that are not exactly correct in your post.

  1. You may or may not need 5 bags a day. That is determined after your testing. I use two 3L bags a day.
  2. What you described is a manual exchange. Many PD patients use an automated machine called a “cycler” that works while you sleep. I normally put myself on at about 9:30 PM, am asleep by 10 PM and wake at 5 PM at about the time the treatment is complete. So, for the most part, I sleep through the entire treatment. It does take some getting used to, though.
  3. As someone else mentioned, UPS does not deliver. Your provider (Fresinus in my case) delivers once a month. The supplies take considerable space, but the driver brings them in and loads them into your space. You don’t touch a box (bag) until you need to use it.

If you have not been on dialysis this all sounds real inconvenient. But looking at it from the perspective of in clinic hemo or even home hemo, it is a breeze. The treatment is convenient and so much better than in clinic hemo (I have never done home hemo). It is my personal belief that in clinic hemo will ultimately (years) kill you. That’s my opinion but there are studies that show home dialysis is much safer and the mortality rate is lower than in clinic.

Good luck.

Thanks, Maxwell. :slight_smile: Ron did join the FB group, and you are VERY welcome as well: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HomeDialysisCentral/. Incidentally, a “closed” group on FB just means that posts are only seen by other group members. In an open group, anything you post will go to your news feed, so everyone you know can see it. Depending on what you want to be able to say, this may be good or bad. At any rate, closed doesn’t mean that we are not welcoming new members.

Hi Ron

I have seen patients with home hemo needing 30 bags per week. Most of the treatment preferably done at night. There are specialized delivery people for the purpose and yes they do require space and are heavy. Home dialysis is more comfortable and economic that clinics.

Best of Luck