My friend has had kidney problems from birth. He is now 22 years old. He needs a new kidney...We play in a touring band together and he will start dialysis soon. What will he go through when he starts? What happens to his body? He is drummer...what happens? I just want to know b/c he is not very upfront with all of us...I hope someone can help. thanks for your time everyone.
-a friend

Hi:

I write this on the assumption you�re worrying about your friend�s future and not that of the band.
Going on dialysis can be tramatic at first. What is the ailment that is taking his kidney function away?
There are two choices with dialysis - hemodialysis, where you visit hospital three times weekly for four-hour sessions during which you are connected to a machine that filters your blood and takes away and waste material his kidneys are unable to function. (There is also a home version of the method, which you can read about under the �Your Words� section of this site.)
Secondarly, there is peritoneal dialysis, which allows the patients to usually handle the procedure either him or her self. A tube is connected to their abdoman and patients flush out their own abdomanal cavity several times daily.
At first glance, peritoneal would seem the best for your partner if travel and stamina are part of your life. It obviously calls for lugging material with you, the training and resting when needed.
I�v heard from many people who have carried on strenuous jobs, even when some travel is needed, who had marvelously on dialysis.
Encouragement from friends also helps.
I wish you, your friend and your band the best,

Cheers,
Mike

[This message has been edited by Michael Williams (edited 03-06-2002).]

yea, i am really scared for my friend. we are all worried about what will happen to him. from what we know, he is not going to be able to do as much as he used to do once the dial. begins...it really sux. we have so many things that we all want to do together. thanks for filling me in. i really appreciate it.

Howdy

I was a four years older when my kidneys failed so I may have some understanding of your friends mindset.

I felt really cheated when I when onto diaylsis at that age. I was always angry that the years I was supposed to be building up my life where taken away, or so I felt. Also I had this weird thing were I was unable to communicate with people. I generally shrugged away from contact and felt I couldnt bear to be around my friends. I often felt so different and that they had it easy. My best friend Derek made it into one of my diaylsis sessions and It meant more to me than I really knew at that time. You need to be there for your friend even when it is really difficult and when they are really difficult.

Also if you friend has to do Dialysis, BUT also has many folks that want to donate a kidney, he may want to consider the chest catheder method. It can be removed without much hassle. I have a fistula which sort of bugs me after having a transplant