I'm located in the US. This year has been a rough one going into end stage and then starting dialysis in June and with tons of disappointments on transplant donor search / testing. I'm still on manual PD but am looking forward to planning a trip with my boyfriend so we can still feel some normalcy in life.
I'm using Baxter solutions. Any suggestions on what's a good location to try to travel to? I know there are some that have poor quality hospitals or that Baxter doesn't ship to, etc.. etc.. In Europe, I heard it is mostly Fresenius which has different bags and transfer sets.
What has been your experience? I'm so looking to get out. Trying to learn how to travel on PD.
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curiousmind2019
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I'm not on dialysis yet, BUT when I start PD I do intend to travel. I travel some with my job, plus, like you, I'm looking forward to begin able to travel for pleasure some again.
I'm definitely going to try traveling in the lower 48 states for my first few trips. That will make it easier for me to figure out how to travel effectively with PD dialysis. There are lots of great places to visit in the US; maybe not as exotic as going overseas. However, for your first trip to have a smooth and enjoyable trip maybe choosing a destination in the US.
Once you get that trip behind you, you'll then have a better idea how to handle travel abroad.
Where do you live? Lake Placid, NY is wonderful in the summer. So are various places in either Colorado or Utah. I'm also very partial to Oregon and Washington states as well as the entire New England region of the US.
But there are truly so many wonderful places to visit. The Great Lakes are also great!
Anyway, that's my two cents. I look forward to hearing what you do and how it goes!
Good suggestions . Should probably ease into it and travel within the US first. Actually thinking of even short road trip first as that way I have one less thing to worry about and can pack supplies in the car. Just need to know how to find emergency PD clinics.
I definitely have not figured out how I would travel for work yet as those are typically on short notice (less than 2 months that my dialysis clinic prefers).
I thought I'd be on PD dialysis about 2 years ago. I travel some for work as well as would like to travel some for pleasure once I'm on dialysis. So I began doing some research and reading. I found lots of ideas in various online forums. One of the ideas I thought would save me a lot of angst was a person who figured out that he could use an over the door hook rather than transporting the manual exchange IV-type pole to hang the PD solution bags when conducting a manual exchange.
I thought that sort of system would be much more portable and should work just fine. I figured I'd try it out at home first to be sure it would work. I think manual exchanges might be easier to manage while traveling to conferences. I know that I can get my PD solution shipped to the hotel where I'll be staying ahead of time. I'll likely need to pack two bags rather than one to travel. I'll need one bag for my PD supplies, e.g., lines, mask, etc. The other bag will be my normal traveling stuff.
There are also cruises for persons on dialysis. They cater more for persons on HD dialysis. But I'd suspect persons on PD also travel on those cruises.
And finally, there is a person who posts in this forum, Mr Kidney, who I believe travels quite a lot with an RV. I don't know if he is on dialysis at this point, but I've seem a few posts from him dealing with this same topic.
Anyway, I'd say to go for it. Dialysis is just a part of our lives; it really shouldn't rule our lives
I look forward to hearing what you decide to try and how it goes!
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