Sandy: Travelling with multiple medicines – Home haemodialysis and travel
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Sandy
Female
Age at interview: 72
Number of medicines: 14
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
When Sandy is on holidays, she goes to a day clinic to have dialysis. She considers this respite for her and her husband from managing nocturnal dialysis at home.
I have to go during the day. I have to wait my turn. Recently down at [regional location] they were fabulous. I didn't have to wait at all. They had me in the chair and on in like in about five minutes. They’re not quite used to people … they like people on home dialysis because you know more about what's going on and they like you to needle yourself and I just say no I'm on holidays, it's over to you. So there was a bit of a fight at [regional location] but the nurse did actually say okay I'll do it. Because that's why I'm having a break. Just having a break, not doing it … We try and do it about every three months but to get a place in another clinic you actually have to be organised. We’re going off to Hobart at the end of April and I've actually had to organise that in about October. You give them a rough date when you'd like to come and they give you a date and you base your holiday around that.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.