Moving haemodialysis out of hospital and into your living space can be positive and bring more freedom, but it might also have its own challenges. Share your experience of moving your treatments home. What do you wish you had known before making the change? What’s been the best thing about the change?
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Changing to home dialysis was the best move we made! The main reason for this is that hubby doesn’t need to drive to and from the hospital four days a week. It’s also our decision as to when his sessions start and finish. We usually make an early start, aiming to begin his session about 07:30 but if he has a hospital appointment at 09:00, for instance, we just move the session to later in the day. We have also managed quite a few short midweek breaks by dialysing at the weekend. Our HD nurses were fab when I was training up for nursey duties. I’m not the most confident person in the world and they were very patient. Anyway, home dialysis definitely suits us better!
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Hello. I am interested in the home dialysis. Which method are you using ? haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis ? Thanks B
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Hi Beanbag,
Hubby is a haemodialysis patient. He has a fistula in his lower arm. We have the machine in our spare bedroom.
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Thanks for the reply I was particularly interested in the Peritoneal dialysis as it looks as if it gives more freedom to travel ? did you consider this consider this? Thanks B
No problem! HD was the only option for hubby as he has no kidneys, having lost both to cancer. We still manage to take short breaks and occasionally a full week in the south of England to visit our daughter. He attends a local dialysis unit for holiday dialysis while we’re there.
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Thank you very much. Best wishes and Good Luck to you both B
I don’t think I was much help, but I wish you all the best going forward!
Thanks for your information. I am not yet at the dialysis stage, being Stage 4 .
I just want to be prepared should the need arise at short notice, so I am trying to get as well informed as possible,
as much for my wife as me because she wants to know all the options too.
Best Wishes
Brian
Just chatting was nice, Take good care .
xx Brian
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Well, Brian, I can’t give you comparisons between the two dialysis methods but I can recommend HHD. Our nurses were excellent during the training process and they didn’t let us ‘fly solo’ until they were satisfied that we were fully competent. Of course, they’re at the end of the phone nowadays and we can call them when we have problems. I’m sure all that will be the same/similar for PD. Hubby has had to revert to unit dialysis a couple of times when I’ve had breast cancer surgery and when I sustained a compound fracture of my big toe (no, really!!) but that was organised no problem. Hopefully someone who is using PD will join the forum and answer your questions on that!
Maureen
My number one tip for HHD or PD is to buy plastic protection 
The amount of times I’d forget to clip a PD waste bag or forget to clip my HD fistula needle before disconnecting!!! Honestly, the mess it makes!!! so for PD I used to use a large plastic bucket I’d put the waste bags into and now for HD i have plastic floor protectors. It saves me such hassle!
Thanks very much, I am going to a support day at the hospital in June that will be going through all the different methods and availability along with my wife. It will hopefully answer a lot of questions that I have. Best wishes B
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Thanks for your interesting post. Can I ask, what made you change from PD to HD ? It sounds as if, when my time comes, I should be in the shed ! Best wishes B
Absolutely, you should be well informed after that meeting! I’d suggest that you write down any specific questions or concerns you and your wife have so that you make sure to cover them at the meeting. It’s just as important for your wife to be well informed as it is for you! I’m sure you’ll find the right fit. 
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Sadly after 3/4 years on PD, it was no longer giving me the clearance efficiency for good dialysis so I was advised by my team to move over to HD. It happens to some people. So on my final year of PD I started work up to HD (getting fistula made, learning to needle etc) I spent 6mths doing HD in unit until my trust has signed contracts for nxstage and then I moved to HHd. I really wanted a portable-ish hemodialysis machine so I could still enjoy the freedom I had with PD.
Thanks for your reply. I will put this on my questionnaire when my wife and I attend the support day at the hospital in June. I understand your requirement for home dialysis, I do not think that I could manage the hospital visits for dialysis, A big part of our lives is travelling in a Campervan , if we lost the ability to do this, I cannot image what we would do.
Hey, I’m using NX stage machine along side pure flow station. It’s so much gentler on my heart (which I also have problems with) I think this is my best option
Hi my husband has haemodialysis at home, I do all aspects of this for him as he can’t manage it due to hand problems. We started in October 2025, initially it was stressful but our home therapies team have been an amazing support.
It gives us a lot more flexibility being able to decide what time he goes on. He has 4 3.5 hr sessions a week and we tend to start early to give us the rest of the day free.
I would say go for it. Good luck, happy to offer support any time.
Thanks, That is great to know. Best wishes B