Postcard from... Janice LeachBooking-up a Bournemouth holiday
The Kidney Life magazine carries adverts for dialysis in Britain; not all of them but a few. You can also find dialysis units in Britain on the kidney patients’ website. I saw an advert for a private dialysis facility in Bournemouth, called KC Dialysis, in the Kidney Life magazine. I contacted them by phone in November last year. I know it was quite a while ago as they are usually booked up quickly. So to get booked you have to think quite far ahead. They didn’t ask for any deposit as the hospital pay the fees.
When I telephoned I told them the days and dates that I wanted the dialysis and which hospital my husband dialysed at. From there my husband told his unit when he would be on holiday and the dates. The hospital then liaised with the unit and dealt with payment. Finding accommodation was easy. I use the Internet a lot and found a flat that was only about 10 minutes from the unit. There was closer accommodation but we wanted to be nearer the shops!!
As this was holiday in Britain blood tests weren’t necessary. These are only necessary when we go abroad which we have done several times. The unit did ask us to bring artificial kidneys and needles for use whilst there. These were provided by the hospital. Our holiday was good and the unit was fine. The couple that ran the unit were friendly and there weren’t any problems. In fact we are returning in August!
I think it is important that people on dialysis try to lead as normal a life as possible, and holidays have always been an important part of our life. My husband has been on dialysis for the past 13 years and we have holidayed nearly every year. I do know that at my husband’s unit other patients wouldn’t think of going on holiday, but we have never had any problems and each hospital we have visited have been really good. Out holidays have mainly consisted of visiting Tenerife as this is the easiest place to get dialysis. We have also visited Crete and Barcelona.
When we travel abroad we always make sure that our insurance covers us for my husband’s medical condition. This can be quite expensive but gives us peace of mind. Freedom Travel arranges the dialysis for our holidays abroad, but this is done through the hospital unless our holiday is booked through Freedom Travel.
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Page created: 8 July 2008
Last updated: 27 February 2011