My Experience with Kidney Disease at the Silverado Hospice

I have worked for my company Silverado Hospice for close to 8 years now, and as our patients gets older, systems in their body tend to slow down or stop altogether. As a health care provider I’ve seen my fair share of patients succumb to many of these breakdown in their systems particularly with their renal system. When I speak to many of my co-workers many who are hospice doctors and nurses most of them will tell u that if they had to die from something, most to all of them would choose to die from kidney disease because the symptoms are easy to manage and even suppress and pain is rarely a problem, As the goal of most hospice providers is to provide comfort during the last days of our client’s life.

When an elderly Patient goes thru renal failure many systems in their body are affect by this, the kidney have the important task of filtering waste from the blood as well as to control the water that is within the bloodstream. The first thing some patients notice is a change in their energy levels, because of buildup of waste in the body that is not properly getting filtered. As the waste builds up in the elderly patient, they may experience sleeping more and more to the point of becoming unconsciousness. the first sign most health providers see are mental changes that affect are clients. Symptoms might range from simple disorientation to full blown anxiety which may make it hard for staff and family to care for their loved ones. These changes mentally, can be handled with loving reassurance and in some instances medication as ordered by their physician.

Other systems that are affected in the body are the skin and muscles. as urea builds up in the skin it causing your skin to itch and even smell, This condition is called Uremi...

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...ess water. Hemodialysis is performed at a dialysis center, and needs to be done several times a week. Another is peritoneal dialysis, dialysis fluid is injected into the abdomen. The fluid contains substances that will pull waste products and excess water out of neighboring tissues. The fluid is left in the abdomen for a few hours, then drained. This is usually done on a daily basis, but can be done at home. In the most severe cases of kidney disease, a kidney transplant is required.

There is no cure for kidney disease. The goal of treatment in hospice is to slow the progression or the disease, to treat any known causes of the disease, to treat any complications of the disease, and to restore lost kidney function as much as possible. Remember, the earlier this can be diagnosed, the better, so if your loved one has any symptoms, see the doctor as soon as you can.