4 Things No One Tells You To Buy After Kidney Failure
I crash landed into hospital with kidney failure in 2020 during the height of the pandemic and stayed for weeks in hospital as I was being fitted with my PD Catheter. When it was finally time to go home from the hospital, I was absolutely buzzing and couldn't wait to be picked up by my dad and be driven away from the bright lights and never-ending alarms in the wards.
However, as I was turned out of the hospital bed and the nurses prepped the space for the next crash lander, I was never told or advised to buy the following but every kidney patient whether on Dialysis, Post-Transplant or CKD stage absolutely should!
- Blood Pressure Machine
- Oximeter
- Thermometer
- Medication Caddy / Pill Box
and here's why:
Blood Pressure Machine
An absolute must for any Patient with kidney disease. Having kidney disease will inevitably affect your blood pressure and if you have just gone through kidney failure, your kidneys are no longer producing the hormones to regulate your BP.
You may think that once your kidneys are gone what is the point in regulating my BP anymore but high blood pressure can slowly damage your eyes, heart and other vital organs in the body. Having a home blood pressure machine will be integral to monitoring your health and relaying your BP levels to your medical practitioners.
Oximeter
An oximeter is that clippy thing that the nurses put on your finger when you're in hospital that measures what you might have thought was just your pulse but actually measures the proportion of oxygenated haemoglobin in the blood too.
The most underrated medical equipment that every kidney patient should have.
Why?
Because it is the only gadget that will detect when you are becoming anemic, long before you are sleeping 12 hours a day and pale as a ghost. Certainly the case when my haemoglobin dropped down to 60 when I went into renal failure.
Once you've hit kidney failure, you are no longer producing the hormones that stimulate haemoglobin production for red blood cells which carry oxygen around your body. It's time to call your medical team when your oximeter readings drop below 90.
Thermometer
Is it time to get a new replacement for the family thermometer?
In this post covid world, it is important to monitor your fevers and be able to relay that information to your medical team when necessary. You never know when you'll be in the middle of the night, blurry eyed with a fever and you're on the phone to your nurse trying to explain you have a fever of however many degrees from a family heirloom. Perhaps it's time to splash out for a personal use one.
Medication Caddy / Pill Box
If you're not walking away from the hospital without your proverbial goodie bag from the pharmacy, I suggest you go straight back in and demand who nicked your glorious drugs.
I was on a number of BP meds before going into kidney failure, I think I came out with almost double amongst other colourful pills!
A pill box is absolutely essential to your medication management, preferably one that can hold up to a week with 3 slots a day. I can't imagine how anyone else would manage otherwise, unless you have Alfred the butler at your beck and call with a little white cup following you everywhere.
Time to take back control of monitoring your health at home!
Returning home from hospital after kidney failure can be an overwhelming experience with many mixed emotions from happiness, relief to fear and anxiety.
I know it was for me.
I was under the careful watch by a team of doctors and nurses monitoring my every temperature, blood pressure reading and kg I was losing for weeks and now I had to do all that myself!
It's a tough ride but I promise having the ability to monitor your health statistics does wonders for bringing back the confidence you once had about your health and soon enough you'll be back out there in the real world living, working, studying, travelling on dialysis.
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