“You’d be dead” she told me when I asked what would happen to me if I didn’t do dialysis.

Both of my kidneys have failed. So I’m alive today only because of the technology of
Peritoneal Dialysis actually the full name is Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis
(CAPD). Being on CAPD means that special fluids are placed into my Peritoneal area which
is the sack or liner that contains my stomach. So these fluids are placed in the area between
the stomach and the liner. While this fluid sits in there, it draws out toxins and extra fluids
through the stomach wall from my body and is then drained out. This happens 5 times a
night while I’m (supposedly) sleeping. There is also Hemodialysis where you go to a
special facility, in my case it was three times a week and sit there for about five or six
hours each time hooked up to a machine which pumps your blood through a filter.
Your entire body’s blood supply is pumped through that filter about 20 times each
session. So I decided doing it at home at night is much better for me. The people that
take care of me are great but still CAPD is not a whole lot of fun. I’m still trying to get
on the list for a replacement kidney. It’s taking a long time to get the necessary tests
done just to get on the list for a replacement kidney. My understanding is that if you
don’t have a donor, the wait list, once you get on it, is about seven years. Having a
donor, even if the blood type is wrong, speeds up the process because they
exchange the good kidney that does not match your blood type for another one out
of a “bank” that will work. People are born with two kidneys and people who have
donated one, live normal lives with just one. I’m not asking, I’m just sayin’.
This is one night’s supply of the fluids. I sleep (when I can) in the recliner.
This is what my closet looks like now, holding my CAPD supplies.

Here is what hemodialisys was like for me (5-6 hours, 3 times a week):