Enjoy life with dialysis
Partner and family
Your family, partner, and friends are also affected by your diagnosis. The changes in your lifestyle are perceived by those around you. Don't exclude yourself, be open about your illness and involve the people who are important to you during these times. Even the closest family members do not have the ability to read your mind. Expressing your needs is good for you. With the stress of kidney disease, it is important to maintain a sense of warmth and closeness with family and friends. Expressing feelings openly and honestly is important to your family's health and emotional well-being.
That way, those around you can get a better understanding of your feelings and react to your needs. However, it is important to not project your anger about your illness towards them. Give your loved ones the chance to grow into the new situation as well.
In addition, some patients may feel that they are a burden to their families. It is important to realize that kidney failure does not happen just to individuals – it happens to families. Sharing your thoughts and feelings freely in an honest, respectful manner can help you and your family. This includes the negative feelings of sadness, anger, fear, and resentment. Holding these thoughts and feelings inside may result in emotional distancing between family members.
Eventually, family life may return near to normal, with treatment included as more or less routine.
Travel
Doing dialysis regularly does not mean that you can no longer go on vacation. It is possible to have your dialysis performed in other dialysis centers or maybe even other places with peritoneal dialysis, also abroad. You can continue to lead an active life, discover new places or simply enjoy the sun!
Some important travel tips
The most important facts in a nutshell
You will also need to continue your dialysis treatment while you are on vacation. Therefore, you need to make sure that dialysis is available and possible at your travel destination. Talk to both your current physician and your physician at the destination about what you need to keep in mind when travelling! Also, remember to make appointments at the vacation dialysis center before you start your trip to avoid appointment bottlenecks there. If you perform the dialysis yourself (peritoneal dialysis or home hemodialysis), you also need to plan the transportation of the necessary equipment. Your dialysis team can help you plan this.
Haemodialysis on holiday
A vacation with hemodialysis needs to be planned well. To start your holiday relaxed, we explain in three steps what you should pay attention to:
To perform hemodialysis while you are on vacation, you need to find a dialysis center in your vacation destination. Here are some options:
- Health insurance companies: Some health insurance companies in some countries have signed contracts with foreign dialysis centers. Your health insurance company may have a list.
- Travel providers: Some travel providers offer trips specially tailored to dialysis patients. To find them, search e.g. for the term "dialysis travel offers" in search engines.
- Dialysis patients: Other dialysis patients have already been on vacation - exchange ideas with them to benefit from their experiences.
For the European Union, health insurance companies are obliged to cover the treatment costs in countries where the European Health Insurance Card is valid. This does not always work smoothly. Contact your health insurance company in advance to check whether all costs will be covered. Some health insurance companies keep lists of which foreign dialysis centers cover the costs completely and without any effort or advance payment. Other countries may have different regulations. Please check with your healthcare team.
Generally, in countries where the European Health Insurance Card is valid, costs are covered for:
- Treatments that are also offered in your home country
- Up to the amount that would have been covered in your home country
- For a maximum of six weeks within a calendar year
If you need financial assistance to plan your trip, dialysis travel assistance funds may be able to help.
Once you have found a dialysis center and clarified the costs, you can continue to prepare your holiday:
- Ask your dialysis center at home to prepare a letter for the dialysis center at your vacation destination. This letter should contain all important information, including information about your dialysis treatment, your latest laboratory values, and medications.
- Make appointments with the dialysis center at your vacation destination - leave enough time for organizational aspects during the first visit.
- If necessary, your dialysis center at home may be able to also translate the physician's letter into the language of the vacation destination. This makes communication easier.
- If necessary, inform your hotel about your diet so that they can adapt to it.
Some of your required medications may not be available abroad. It is therefore important that you carry them with you. If necessary, use a cooler for this purpose. If you are crossing a border, please inform yourself beforehand about regulatory requirements that may apply for crossing the border with medications. Talk to your dialysis team about it!
Peritoneal dialysis (PD)
As peritoneal dialysis patient, you are also relatively flexible when traveling. Nevertheless, a vacation with peritoneal dialysis must be well planned. To start your holiday relaxed, we explain in three steps what you should pay attention to:
With peritoneal dialysis, traveling is possible. We would like to address some important points with regard to choosing your vacation destination:
- High hygienic standards at the vacation destination to reduce the risk of infections and complications.
- Quick access to quality medical care: In the event of a complication, it is important that you receive high-quality care fast. Inform yourself in advance to make sure that good quality medical care is nearby.
- Perform treatments in a clean and bright room and perform your dialysis as carefully as at your home.
- Know your vacation spot(s): Other dialysis patients have already been on vacation - exchange ideas with them to benefit from others’ experiences.
For the European Union, health insurance companies are obliged to cover the treatment costs in countries where the European Health Insurance Card is valid. This does not always work smoothly. Contact your health insurance company in advance to check whether all costs will be covered. Some health insurance companies keep lists of which foreign dialysis centers cover the costs completely and without any effort or advance payment. Other countries may have different regulations. Please check with your healthcare team. Generally, in countries where the European Health Insurance Card is valid, costs are covered for:
- Treatments that are also possibly offered in your home country
- Up to the amount that would have been covered in your home country
- For a maximum of six weeks within a calendar year
If you need financial assistance to plan your trip, dialysis travel assistance funds may be able to help.
If you plan a short trip or travel by car, you can easily transport the materials needed yourself. If you are going on a longer trip, you will need to make some preparations in order to comfortably perform peritoneal dialysis at your vacation destination. If you are crossing a border, please inform yourself beforehand about regulatory requirements that may apply for crossing the border with dialysis materials.
There are several ways in which all the necessary supplies can be provided at the vacation destination:
- Home dialysis center: Your dialysis team at your home dialysis center may be able to ship the necessary supplies for treatment directly to your vacation destination.
- Home dialysis provider: Your home dialysis provider (such as Fresenius Medical Care) may be able to arrange for delivery to your vacation destination. Please enquire when planning your travel.
- Dialysis center at your vacation destination: The dialysis center at your vacation destination may be able to provide you with the necessary materials at your vacation destination. Please enquire when planning your travel.
Your own transportation: You transport your required material to your vacation destination. If you are crossing a border, please inform yourself beforehand about regulatory requirements that may apply for crossing the border with dialysis materials.
Check with your dialysis team to find out what options are available to you.
Despite these options, you should always carry a three-day supply with you to be prepared for unforeseen situations. For air travel, this should be carried in your hand luggage.
Find out more about traveling on dialysis within the NephroCare network
Managing your emotions
It is normal for kidney patients to have mood swings. Moodiness can be a result of build-up waste products in the blood causing irritation to the nervous system. Some medications may also reduce emotional stability.
The stress caused by chronic diseases explains a wide range of feelings and moods, including irritability, anger, frustration towards problems caused by the illness and feelings of hopelessness.
Each step you've experienced - finding out your kidneys are failing, needing to choose a type of dialysis and the ongoing nature of dialysis itself - comes with a series of emotions. Recognizing how normal this is can be reassuring, help you stay on your treatment plan and keep up the relationships most important to you. Always keep in mind that: you're not alone and can lean on your dialysis care team if needed.
Read more about life as a family member of a dialysis patient in the next section
