Can I travel abroad after renal dialysis?

After kidney dialysis (commonly known as renal dialysis), many patients' lifestyles have undergone great changes, such as being restricted from going out and even wondering if they can go out to play with their families. In fact, as long as you know the details of arranging dialysis, you can still enjoy the beauty of the trip with confidence.

How to travel on hemodialysis? The most common dialysis method is hemodialysis. Go to the hemodialysis room three times a week for 4-5 hours at a time. After dialysis, although toxins and wastes are removed from the body, nutrients are also removed, so you will feel tired, so you will faint for about half a day the next day. Because waste is accumulated every day, it is best to have dialysis once every two days, which also limits the time planning of patients' long trips.

Wu Hong, president of the Association of Peritoneal Dialysis Kidney Friends, said that she heard that a kidney friend changed the dialysis time from the night before departure to the morning, and then changed the dialysis time to the evening of the expected return day, just squeezing out four days. Unexpectedly, poor diet and water control abroad, coupled with fatigue, suddenly fainted. Fortunately, he was finally saved, but he was also afraid. "I really can't be brave. 」

But it also makes people wonder, can't hemodialysis go abroad to play? In fact, many countries have hemodialysis equipment. As long as you contact in advance before going abroad, you can also have hemodialysis abroad. For example, if you go abroad to find relatives and friends and stay for 10 days, you need hemodialysis for about 5 times. You can make an appointment at the local hemodialysis center first, so that you can take care of your health and have fun.

But in foreign countries, the cost of hemodialysis is not cheap, often tens of thousands of yuan. Even if you can apply for verification with health insurance, the upper limit of compensation is only less than 1000 yuan. Although it is not a small supplement, it is still a high cost.

How to travel abroad for peritoneal dialysis? As for peritoneal dialysis, because it belongs to the home care mode, with "peritoneum" as the filter medium, a small hole will be opened in the abdominal cavity during the operation, and the liquid medicine will be changed about four times a day. When changing the liquid medicine, the old liquid will be discharged through the catheter and a new liquid medicine will be introduced. The whole process takes about 30 minutes. As long as you learn to change the potion, you can actually operate it outside.

Dialysis liquid medicine companies can also apply for the service of transporting liquid medicine abroad. For Wu Hong, as long as the patient applies to the manufacturer 1~3 months before going abroad, he can send the potion to the designated hotel or other places without extra charge, but the disadvantage is that he can only send it once, so he may need to carry it on his back during the trip. If he goes out for 10 days, it will be 40 packages of potions, each with 2 liters.

However, the disadvantage of peritoneal dialysis is that it is very afraid of infection, and it is not suitable to change the potion in a completely clean place, such as the toilet, so it is also a challenge to plan the place to change the potion before going out.

There are many restrictions, so do you want to go abroad or not? However, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis have their own advantages and disadvantages, which sometimes make patients flinch. But for Wu Hong, being able to go out to play really inspired the patient's mood, so I suggest not to be afraid of the challenge of going out to play when there is an opportunity.

In fact, these restrictions are not only for dialysis patients, but also for the travel planning and insurance of ordinary people when they go abroad. It's just that dialysis patients have more dialysis plans. For Wu Hong, in fact, the restriction is to remind themselves of what they need to pay attention to under the current physical condition, which is also a way for them to better grasp and understand themselves comprehensively. Many times, the physical burden is not as heavy as expected, but the psychological frustration may be the more need to overcome.

In addition, Wu Honglai also suggested that patients can seek help from foundations, such as peritoneal dialysis kidney friends association, kidney foundation, and Taiwan Province Association for promoting the quality of life of kidney friends, which can provide good information and related consultation.