Dialysis - fluid retention

* Kitty*, my BIL was on dialysis for years and we always found the staff extremely helpful. BIL was very stoic and would never make a fuss, so my sister in law would contact the ward with any concerns.

Would your friend be able to phone the dyalisis unit, while he is there and ask to speak to someone, explaining about her husband's anxiety and the fact that he finds it difficult to ask questions?

Could his wife ring the unit while he is there and ask questions? If she tells them how worried she is, she could ask for someone to ring back if they are very busy. I assume he is keeping his fluid and salt intake to allowed levels of course. No one here can really answer your questions though.

Thank you both. I just wondered if it was a usual occurrence so I could reassure my friend.

He is a bit of a wuss really and full of bluster. Not sure how he would take to her phoning!! He is very careful with his diet and so is my friend.

I think part of his problem is that quite a few of the people who are there on 'his' days have died and they are not a very friendly bunch either. He recently had to change days and his previous group had been quite outgoing with a few younger people on it.

thank you again.

The hospital should be keeping a close check on his fluid levels, and altering the time spent dialysing accordingly.

I used to support someone on home dialysis, and she had to keep detailed records of her weight before dialysis and after, and things did sometimes get out of synchronisation.