In the Summer of 2023, Monika who is from Chester, had been feeling quite fatigued but then suddenly and rapidly fell extremely unwell with severe headaches, leg cramps and constant drowsiness. Monika’s family were worried and the GP sent her for a blood test. The same day they had a call from the doctor to say that something wasn’t right. Monika was sent to Alder Hey and the next day was told she had kidney failure.
The kidneys are twin organs and have an important role in keeping the body healthy including by removing waste products from the body and controlling the amount of minerals such as water and salt in our body.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Leah Wilson explains “Monika was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease. The kidney works in different stages and stage 5 means your kidneys need extra support to help them work properly. When the kidney/s fail and are unable to perform their normal functions, dialysis is needed to keep you fit and well.”
Haemodialysis (HD) is a form of dialysis that uses a machine with an ‘artificial kidney’ which filters the blood. Blood is pumped out of the body around a circuit through the artificial kidney where it is cleaned and then returned to the body. The machine pumps fluid known as the dialysate into the dialyser. Waste products, salts and excess water are filtered out of the blood into the dialysate.
Monika spent four weeks in hospital and once discharged had to continue to come to Alder Hey for Haemodialysis 3 times a week for hours at a time.
Leah specialises in renal home therapies and asked Monika and family if they would like to use a haemodialysis machine specially designed to be used at home. This would mean, much fewer trips to Alder Hey and the dialysis could be done around Monika’s schedule. The family were delighted but there was a lot of training ahead before they could transfer the dialysis to home.
They started training in October and it took 6 weeks. They completed their very first dialysis at home on 18th December just before Christmas and Leah was there to support them every step of the way.
Mum Katarzyna said “We couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it with us, Leah is just brilliant and has really helped us through it all.”
Monika said “It’s much better being at home and round my home comforts and the dialysis can fit in to my day quite easily now. I tend to pass the time by drawing or playing on the play station.”
Leah said “Unfortunately not everyone is suitable for home haemodialysis. Patients must be established on in-centre haemodialysis and be stable on dialysis before home haemodialysis can be considered. Some patients are too complex to have dialysis outside the hospital. Thankfully Monika was able to transfer to home and her and her family have been doing wonderfully.”