Travel Doesn’t Stop
When Dialysis Starts
By Andrew Conkling , Hemodialysis Patient, DPC Education Center Board Member
Traveling while on dialysis can seem like a scary thought, but it
doesn’t have to be. Traveling can be very helpful to the psyche
of a dialysis patient. Seeing family and friends is important, as
well as taking relaxing vacations. You may also want to see
new places that you may not have had the chance to visit
before you were on dialysis. There should be something good
to come out of dialysis, so look for it wherever you can.
Take a look at your bucket list: is travel a big part? If so, time
to get to it! If nothing else, traveling allows you to see how
other clinics are organized, which can help you understand
some of the things that you see in your home clinic. You may
even be able to make a few suggestions to your home clinic
that you found worked better for you. I’ve been on in-center
hemodialysis dialysis for twelve years now. With the help of
an excellent social worker and a wonderful clinic staff I was
encouraged to continue traveling as I had done before
starting dialysis. It’s very important to most patients to
have as close to the same social or work life as they had
before they started dialysis. I regularly take trips to the Gulf
of Mexico or to the upper mid-west to visit family. These
trips are long enough that they would not be possible to
take without making arrangements for treatments where
I will be going. I have also had the opportunity to travel
to San Francisco and Washington D.C. with Dialysis Patient
Citizens (DPC) to advocate for dialysis patients’ rights on
Capitol Hill, something that I wouldn’t have been able to
do if I could not travel.
I was of course apprehensive the first time. I started with
short trips that only required one treatment, and locations
that were close to home just in case. However, in short order I
was taking longer trips both in distance and time. I’ve been in
8
clinics of all sizes and locations and the differences between
clinics can be drastic. Being proactive in your care is the key.
The more you know about your own treatments, the easier
time you will have.
Now that we have the “why” taken care of, let’s move on
to the “how.” Most clinics, no matter the company that
owns it, have a social worker and a unit secretary. These
two people are normally the people that will help you the
most as you start your journey. In addition, both DaVita and
Fresenius, the two largest dialysis providers, have websites
and toll free numbers you can call to get help planning your
travel. You may also find it helpful to check out the dialysis
facility compare tool from Medicare.gov. This can be very
helpful when deciding what clinic you may want to use, --but
remember the star ratings are not the only indicator of care
quality. Don’t be alarmed if your destination has only one
or two star-rated facilities. Use the ratings as a guide
to ask questions before receiving treatment.
Decide where it is you want to go.
This may seem simple enough but
some consideration must be made.
The bigger the destination, the