Our recommendations

For the sake of hygiene and comfort, we recommend that you dress appropriately for dialysis.

Clothing

Despite the great care taken by the staff, the clothes worn during a dialysis session may be soiled by blood or other substances. You are therefore asked to bring specific dialysis clothing. Choose comfortable clothing to facilitate access to your vascular access. Short sleeves are preferable if you have a fistula, and clothing that opens at the front, such as a shirt, if you have a catheter. Wear a pair of shoes without laces so that you can put them on and take them off easily.

Personal hygiene

Your dialysis clothes should be changed and washed at home after each session. We ask you to wash your hands, and more specifically the fistula arm, before your dialysis session. Washbasins are available at the entrance to the haemodialysis room. The care team will provide you with information on body hygiene measures. At the end of the session, it is essential to wear a glove when compressing the fistula puncture points to avoid any risk of soiling the environment. Wash your hands or rub them with a hydro-alcoholic solution before leaving the centre.

Food and water hygiene

Three haemodialysis sessions a week will not replace kidneys that are not functioning normally. In addition to these sessions, your diet and fluid intake must be monitored. Dietary recommendations will be given to you by the care team, and our dieticians are also on hand to advise you.

For your sessions

As soon as you arrive, we will let you know the schedule for your sessions. This will remain unchanged as far as possible. However, for service reasons, or for your personal convenience, the times of your sessions may be changed.

If you wish to change your schedule, you must inform the department manager beforehand, who will organise the change as best as possible. For its part, the department undertakes to inform you of any changes in the organisation of your dialysis sessions. In order to preserve your professional life, the organisation of working hours is a priority for our centre.

In principle, you will be dialysed three times a week, but the frequency and length of your sessions will be determined by the nephrologist according to your needs.

1 / You will usually be taken to the haemodialysis centre by taxi, light medical vehicle or ambulance. You may also bring your own vehicle if you wish. Once you have arrived, you will be greeted and taken care of by the secretary, then you can wait in the waiting room for the paramedical team to come and collect you.

2/ In the treatment room, you will be weighed in order to calculate the weight you need to lose to bring you back to your base weight, known as your "dry weight". This is because you gain weight between dialyses as a result of the liquids absorbed from your diet being stored in your body.
You wash the upper limb on which the vascular access is made with soap to reduce the risk of infection during punctures. Your blood pressure is measured on the arm without the vascular access.

3/ After asepsis, the fistula or prosthesis is punctured in two places. If it is a catheter, it is connected directly to the tubing.

4/ The blood is pumped by the generator into the dialyser. At the end of the session, your blood is returned to you, and the needles are removed or the catheter disconnected from the tubing.

5/ During the hours of dialysis, you will be able to read, watch television, listen to music, eat and sleep in a bed or armchair. At the end of your dialysis, your blood pressure and weight will be measured again.

6/ Your transporter will take you home.

In order to optimise your dialysis treatment, you are asked to :
- Dress in the same (clean) clothes at each session.
- Weigh yourself on the same scales; you should be sure to weigh yourself under the same conditions on arrival and departure from dialysis, and at every session.
- Empty your pockets (keys, mobile phone, wallet, etc.).

Personalised monitoring of dialysis patients is very important to all our practitioners. We put all our skills at your disposal to support you and help you maintain as normal a social life as possible. Your activities, your personal plans and a healthy lifestyle are all essential to your acceptance of dialysis.

To meet these needs, our entire team will support you and answer any questions you may have.

Daily life for dialysis patients

In haemodialysis

Haemodialysis is generally compatible with your social and professional activities. With the agreement of your nephrologist, you can adapt your dialysis schedule to suit your activities.
With a fistula, almost all sporting activities are possible. The presence of a catheter is more restrictive, so don't hesitate to ask our staff for more information. They will be able to answer any questions you may have.