For many adults, having to be dependent on someone else is not easy. People living with a chronic illness often experience a decline in health as the illness progresses. This decline may require more assistance from others for even the most basic tasks, such as bathing and toileting.

There are more than 26 million Americans who suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), 350,000 need dialysis. Of those, 93 percent received hemodialysis (HD) at the end of 2007, and the remaining 7 percent were treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home. In addition, there were about 3,000 patients using home hemodialysis (HHD)

pants anymore…” “I feel bloated a lot and hate feeling like I’m pregnant – especially because I’m a guy…” “How could my partner ever want to be intimate with me again when I have this plastic tube sticking out of me…”  These statements and other concerns are often expressed by individuals on peritoneal dialysis (PD)

Seven years ago, I was a busy manager of a furniture store and father to three young kids, when, at work one day, I had a high blood pressure episode. I temporarily lost consciousness and awoke in the hospital.