Holidaying on Dialysis

Yes it is possible. You can see the size of the dialysis machine and it weighs about 80kg plus it has a water filtration plant, so its not able to accompany me on holidays. But with a bit of work it is possible to get guest facilities and still have a holiday. In Aug 2010 we managed to get guest facilities at Noosa private hospital and so we drove to Noosa and had a lovely 10 days relaxing and enjoying the winter sun. This year we were very fortunate to link up with a charitable group called Dialysis EscapeLine Aust (DELA) which organises temporary facilities in various locations. This year on board the Dawn Princess cruise ship.We had a wonderful 14 days in early Dec 2011 cruising the South Pacific islands including Fiji, Noumea and Vanuatu. Fantastic food , great service, all the facilities you could want and very relaxing. The weather was far better than Sydney. I highly recommend it. For many patients it was the first time they had been on hoilday since commencing dialysis and for some that was many years ago. We even had one lucky patient that was book on the cruise some six months in advance and then got a successful transplant before we left. He was still able to join us and we were all jealous that he didn't have to do dialysis. Hats off to the organisers at DELA (also dialysis and transplant patients) who organised such a great holiday. We have strange conditions regarding medical benefits. Because we were outside of Australia most of the medical benefits funds would not pay for the cost of the dialysis and at $250 per session it soon adds up. Fortunately my medical fund did cover me. Go figure.