Gio Lam - Challenged Athlete/Dialysis Patient
I was playing in an Under-19 rugby game for the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club.  I unfortunately suffer a sprained ankle.  That was the same day as my birthday. 

Then, over the course of the week, I noticed that the swelling wasn’t going away.  I’ve had sprained ankles before and the swelling goes away within 3 days or less.  All that swelling began to worry me, so I go to see my family doctor and get some blood tests.  This was not exactly the belated birthday present I had imagined: a diagnosis of renal failure.  I was admitted to St. Paul’s Hospital of Vancouver immediately.  After more testing, it is revealed that I have end-stage chronic renal disease, in the form of IgA nephropathy.  The next step was to try and remove as much of the accumulated fluid through dialysis treatments.

So for a period of time, I stayed in hospital for dialysis.  After I was discharged, I continued to make trips to the hospital 3 times a week.  The doctors always told me I was a great candidate to do dialysis at home in the form of peritoneal dialysis.  I liked the idea.  So I decided to try that.  Everything was going great for me.  I returned to my old diet and had more freedom in my days to do things that I loved, like staying fit.  For about 8-9 months, it was great.  Then I started noticing that my health began to deteriorate.  I wasn’t getting good dialysis anymore, started to accumulate fluid again, and my blood pressure escalated.  It became so high that it eventually led to a seizure.  That would be the end of peritoneal dialysis for me.  It was a scary thing to go through.  I still don’t remember what I was doing before the seizure.  Only family members can recall the frightening incident for me.

After the seizure occurred, I was back on hemodialysis 3 times a week.  It was the same routine as before.  I hated being in the hospital setting even though it was probably the safest place to be.  I know I wanted a little bit of my freedom back like when it used to be on peritoneal dialysis.  They offered me a transfer to a local community dialysis unit.  I would still need to do hemodialysis, but the upside is that I was able to care for myself a little bit more.  I was taught how to set up my own machine and set the supplies to assist the nurses before they put me on.  I remained there for about 2 and a half years.

By this time, the home dialysis program in British Columbia began to grow.  I figured this was as good a time as any to finally go home for self-treatment again.   The transition could not have been any smoother.  The training was great.  I believe my previous experience with dialysis really sped up the training time for me.  By June 2006, I was able to go home and actually start.  Currently, I am doing nocturnal dialysis roughly 4-5 times a week, with an extra day as a buffer just in case I need it.  I have no complaints about home dialysis.  I think it’s the best option for patients other than a transplant.  It absolutely gives you the freedom you need to keep the day open for your desired lifestyle.  For me, that is to attend school.  By doing dialysis at home, I am able to transfer the time spent for travel to and from the dialysis unit into time for studying and homework.