Afraid to die alone

A friend shared with me that her cousin passed away, leaving 2 kids and a wife behind. He was around my age, mid 30s. This triggered a memory in me. There was a period of time, around 1 and a half months before going into the hospital for emergency dialysis, where I was afraid to …

The cost of dialysis

I was out of the hospital with the shiny new catheter installed on my chest. Dialysis in the hospital has been smooth with no hiccups. I felt okay. It was not a process as bad as I had imagined it to be. Of course, there is always a reminder at the back of my head, …

Central Venous Catheter

There are 3 options for dialysis, Internal Arteriovenous Fistula Internal Arteriovenous Graft Central Venous Catheter Both AV fistula and AV graft require a surgeon to cut the arm open to modify the veins and arteries in there to create an access for the dialysis needle. This process is irreversible and side effects include loss of …

The gift that came 10 years early

One of the many conversations we had in the hospital, one of them is the possibility of a kidney transplant. There are 2 types of kidneys available for transplants, kidneys from living donors and kidneys from donor who just passed away. The chances of a cadaver kidney transplant in Singapore is like striking lottery. Other …

The thigh catheter for dialysis

Well having a tube up my groin was not a pleasant experience. I had to keep my thigh straight to avoid bending the tube that connects my artery to the catheter. I was told to lie down and not get out of bed at all. The nurses afforded me the best care they could. I …