He does peritoneal dialysis (PD). Before starting dialysis, under local anesthetic, he had a catheter inserted just under his navel. It is coiled and perforated on the one end. The other end is run under the skin for a couple of inches and then exits back out. This end is attached to a transfer set (approx 12" long) which has a screw-on cap on the end (mini-cap).

After a month, when everything has healed, you begin dialysis by filling the peritoneal cavity with dialysis solution (basically glucose water with some calcium & magnesium added) through the catheter. Since he isn't a large person (5'9" and slender), he only uses 1.5 liters. Every two hours and twenty minutes, the machine, which is called a cycler, drains out the fluid and then fills with more. This is done four times during the night, every night. During the day, he only has a small amount of fluid in his peritoneum.

He hooks up at 7:00 pm and then once drained and filled (15-20 min), can unhook until time for the next drain. At 6:00 am, he can unhook and is done until the evening. This is done every night. PD uses the peritoneal membrane as a filter. It's much easier on you than haemodialysis and more closely mimics natural kidney function and preserves the remaining kidney function.

When we travel, we take the cycler and the solutions with us. The cycler is about the size of a microwave oven and easy to carry as it comes with a shoulder bag.

Carol