Getting bogged on a muddy road is not normally a life-threatening situation. Unless you are driving 475km (300 miles) for dialysis on a muddy dirt road after floods. A guy in the Queensland outback was doing exactly that three days ago, travelling from Mt Isa to Doomadgee Hospital, a nine-hour trip. He and three companions, including his son, were travelling along the muddy Thorntonia Rd, a 56km (35 mile) stretch about half way there, when they were hopelessly bogged.
They spent the night in the car waiting for someone else to come along, but nobody did. They began to worry about the man missing dialysis, now one day late, so early morning two of his friends, a 33-year-old man and a woman (age unknown) decided to walk to the Gregory Downs Hotel 40km (25 miles) further along the road to Doomadgee for help. They walked all day along the muddy road in persistent rain until they arrived after nightfall.
The hotel staff called the North Queensland Rescue Helicopter, which the following morning picked up the man and his son and took them to Century Mine, 25km away. From there, the man, now two days late for dialysis, was taken by Royal Flying Doctor Service about 1000km east to Townsville Hospital, where he at last received his BigD treatment.
A great story eh? His friends must have been really worried. Should they have been?
Absolutely yes. Another day or two and he would almost certainly have died.
I have often wondered how long I would have if I stopped dialysing, so I asked our Unit Manager, who has known several people who have decided to stop. Her answer was immediate: three to five days for most people.
The length of time depends on a few things: whether you have any residual kidney function (I do not), how well you tolerate too much potassium, which causes increasingly severe arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and how well you can tolerate the fluid build up (which makes it hard to breath and places great strain on the heart).
The high level of toxins are an unpleasant extra that tends to slow down your thinking and make you feel generally unwell.
Eventually, death is usually caused by heart failure.
Most people on the BigD have had some or all of these symptoms, so they are not all that hard to imagine (I have some pretty ugly photos of me to prove it). But luckily we have had dialysis available to get us back to some semblance of good health.
To me, this Queensland story is a useful reminder to make doubly sure of my dialysis treatment plans when I go on holiday, or if I travel far from my unit. It’s the kind of frustrating situation I sometimes dream about, where no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to get where you want to go (I must remember to dream up a helicopter or the RFDS next time!).
It is also a nice reminder of just how great it is to have good friends. Yet another reason to hang on to life with both hands.
I disagree with the statement 3-5 days without BigD means curtains. Recently my sister spent 5 days without BigD. A long story, but in short she was admitted to hospital, but literally waited that long until the staff dialysed her. She was no where near death.
I can also relate to a story written by an old chap called Boris (not his real name), who decided to cease BigD. The Drs told him it would be weeks until he finally died, peacefully. They advised him that he would become slower and slower until at last he would just drift off to sllep and not wake up. It is a very moving story, written by Boris until near the end when a friend takes over. But the point is weeks, not days for anyone stopping BigD
Chris from Dundas.
Hi Chris, thanks for the comment. I agree that not everyone passes away within 5 days. It depends on each individual, their state of health and what else is wrong. An otherwise young and healthy person would last longer, but an older person with several other health problems could go quite quickly (and this is the type of patient that most commonly chooses to stop). Also, some of my BigD friends feel dreadful after four days off, others seem to handle it well. I hope not to have to put it to the test.
I would love to read Boris’s story. Is it available online or as a soft copy, or where could I see it? Regards, Greg
My dad just missed 2 treatments which landed him in the hospital his potassium was high enough to kill him. We all thought he was going to die.
I’m pretty certain if he didn’t go to the hospital when he did he would not be here today. It was 6 days without dialysis one more would have probably killed him.
Hello friends, I just went through this, “stopping dialysis” with my mom and she lasted exactly 20 days. She was 78 years old with numerous other complications. So… I truly think each person is different and how the body handles the toxins is the key. She had been skipping treatments for over a year because she would get so sick after dialysis that finally after her last treatment on December 31, 2011 she just decided she did not want to go back. She passed January 20, 2012.