Four years ago, while sitting in my grandmother's hospital room the doctors gave her a choice: death or dialysis. Her kidneys were failing, with no chance of regaining their function. For younger, healthier people there would generally be a third choice of organ donation, however, due to other health issues my grandmother was not a suitable candidate for receiving a donated kidney. So, thankfully, her choice was dialysis.
To be honest, I didn't know very much about what dialysis was and the commitment that is needed from the patient. Three days a week, four hours a day, my grandmother is hooked up to a dialysis machine to cleanse her blood and remove toxins that would normally be preformed by fully functioning kidneys.
There have been advances in this type of treatment over the years. Eligible patients are able to preform their own dialysis in the convenience of their own home. This is an important advance for people living in rural communities, as well as it helps to alleviate the high (and increasing) demand in hospitals for dialysis treatment . Also, the ability for some people being able to do home-dialysis makes it more convenient for them as they are able to undergo the dialysis as they sleep.
Advances in medicine, like dialysis, make it possible for someone like my grandmother to live with kidney problems, when there once would have been no options. Sometimes we take these advances in medicine for granted, until it hits home and you realize how important these common treatments are.
