dialysís in Finland

[Rosamunda]

That's a good point, about telling your children. As yours are still so young it will be difficult to explain the situation but I agree that they should be told, just to avoid problems with them picking up conflicting messages from friends, relatives, neighbours etc. Maybe you should take the eldest aside and explain to him/her first and then give a simpler version to the others. Cory can probably give better advice than me on this!

[oompah18]

Just a quick update to your many replies (thank you all. it is so very lonely in the evenings when the kids are asleep, it´s good to read your posts.) I still haven´t visited him, but people HAVE promised to take my kids tomorrow, but not the baby, she still nurses frequently. SO I am visiting him tomorrow, at last. I have been informed today that it was definitely kidney failure as opposed to kidney disease, but it is unlikely his kidneys will ever work properly again, so he will be on dialysis for the foreseeable future & docs say they WILL look for a donor.
Raamv´s post about burana shocked me as I didn´t know it was so bad, & yes my hubby used it quite often
Kids OK, but I was in tears tonight as eldest had his little Eskari Juhla, singing, dancing & presentation with certificate & a rose. But luckily my other 3 behaved like angels again.
Don´t mention the footie please

[Rosamunda]

I only found out about the Burana thing recently. I fell off a ladder last summer and cracked two ribs. I was swallowing Burana like there was no tomorrow and then someone mentioned "Did you read those articles about Burana...." So I went back to the doctor and got something else. Paracetamol is a no-no too, so I guess it is back to the good old aspirin.

Hope today goes OK, I'm sure you will find people to answer all your questions at the hospital. I don't know anything about kidney transplants (except that they seem to be extraordinarily "routine" nowadays! I'm sure I can remember when a kidney transplant was headline news in the papers). Do you have any idea how long it could take to find a donor?

And by the way. I think you can give YOURSELF some of the credit when your kids behave "like angels"

(OK OK won't mention the football again!)

[TERI]

All the painkillers and other over-the-counter drugs have side effects and remember: A REMEDY IS A POISON WHEN USED IN LARGE AMOUNTS. There is no better or worse drugs, they affect different things. Be sure to ask your doctor about what your hubby may use in the future.
I "interrogated" my colleague about her husband since he had been on dialysis for years and had a transplant last Nov. He went to the hospital 3 times a week for 3-4 hours. He had an agreement at his work to do that during working time and they were OK with this. He didn´t feel tired and most of the time was feeling like "normal". Diet, of course, was (and still is) very important, but she says he doesn´t bother much. Men.... As someone said, you can travel but you need to be certain about the dialysis availability at the destination. Things got worse after the transplant - he was at the hospital for a long time and feeling sick, tired and depressed all the time. Because of all the medicines he had to take (hormones, immuno-suppressants), no wonder. His pretty OK now.

Best regards!

[oompah18]

What a day! Took the tots to neuvola for routine checks, but spent most of the time discussing hubby. They phoned social services of some sort & now someone is visiting me on Monday to asses our needs, great!
tonight when I went to the village shop, there was an envelope from the staff at the neuvola with 80 euros inside, to buy food. Wow, awesome, I cried as this was so thoughtful. Thank you Finnish people!
Anyway, i saw hubby & doc for first time today & now I feel so much better. Hubby looked a lot healthier than a week ago, even attached to the machine! he said he felt better, phew! Everything I knew about his condition which I have posted so far has come from his sister, in Finglish, so when I saw the doc, who spoke perfect Finnish, it was quite interesting, very different from what I have thought!: it appears hubby has had kidney disease for a few years as his kidneys are now totally useless around only 4cm! But the doc says they have done tests on his heart etc & he is so very healthy in other parts of his body that he will be put on the transplant waiting list next month! The doc said Finland was the world leader in Kidney transplants....... Anyway, it appears that hubby will be coming home for a weekend, 30th May, then after one more week, if all is well, he will be home for good, visiting there for dialysis 3x a wk, for a few months. Then I was confused because he mentioned 2 different types of dialysis. but I forget which. Anyway, hubby has the first type now & will be changing to the 2nd type, then there is a very small machine he can use at home during the night, & have totally normal day life, then if all goes well, a tube is put in his stomach area somewhere (sorry I can´t remember any technical stuff as I was so anxious, & stil hadn´t seen hubby befor seeing doc...) for something instead of using a machine. He said the timespan of all this was just a few months, seems very quick to me, I thought it would take much longer but it is because he is in such good shape otherwise, that this will all happen, apparently. But I could have all this wrong. He said waiting time for transplant anything from 4 mths to 2 years right now., depending on blood type etc but of course it can be much longer... he also said that hubby hadn´t been given all this info yet as too much to take in.
Discovered he will get all these treatments refunded, & EPO & other stuff too. His salary will be on full pay for the next 2 months then 75% for 18 mths (that sounds too good surely that is not right?), so maybe we won´t lose the house after all. Discovered more but won´t bore you all with this every night I promise, but it is good to "talk" online about it. Kids are having lots of little outings planned by various friends too, we might just get through this. Thanks for all your support.
Allie, reading up on daily diet for dialysis patients!

[onkko]

His salary will be on full pay for the next 2 months then 75% for 18 mths (that sounds too good surely that is not right?), so maybe we won´t lose the house after all.

Employer pays full salary on some time depending on how long he has been working and under what collective agreement.
After that time he drops on KELA sick allowance (about 70% of salary) and you can calculate how much it exactly is in http://kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/ ... enDocument . That lasts 300 weekdays including saturdays (about a year). After that he can apply to disability pension.
While waiting for decision about pension or decision is negative he gets unemployment money, if he is in unemployment fund he gets 500 weekdays money depending how much his income was (roughly 50% of salary) and after that he drops on labour market subsidy (bit over 400e after taxes if you dont have income).
If he gets pension or rehabilitation money then how much that is depends how much he has earned after age 23 and your husband can check it in http://www.ilmarinen.fi If earnings related pension is under 1 075,30 he get also some of or full national pension, more info in http://kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/ ... enDocument

Disclaimer: Thats roughly how it goes and i dont take any responsibilities of wrong information

[interleukin]

People complain themselves to death about the high taxes in Finland, but I think from this example we can see that if something happens and you have been paying taxes, you are taken pretty well care of. I think some other countries could learn something from this. It is insane that you would loose your house just because you are sick.

[kay30]

Agreed. This is why I am happy to pay the taxes every month. Glad to hear things are becoming more clear and things seem hopeful!

[Amandine.K]

Allie I read your post every day and think about you a lot. Keep strong, and no you are not boring us with this! So come often and tell us on his progress! Shame I live in Helsinki, I would have gladly helped you! Take Care!

[Pursuivant]

But... but... theres no skippyyyy....

so when I saw the doc, who spoke perfect Finnish,

only Finnish speaking doctors

[antstar]

Hi oompah18 ,

sorry i have nothing to add apart from my sympathy. I hav'ent been on for so long that i am shocked by your sad news! Last time we spoke you did tell me he had recently became ill. I can't add anything constructive on the medical issue but i am the closest member of the forum to you and as you know well enough, if you need someone to chat to, then i am not so far away. God only knows how your managing with the kids and everything!
Keep your spirits up!

[biscayne]

Hi again!

I am so glad things are looking up for you! It is great to hear your husband will be on the transplant list, and the doctor was correct, Finland is a world-leader in transplant of organs. So,it seems he will be on "normal" dialysis for a few weeks and then on CAPD - continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, this is the one he can do at home, and it will be much easier for him than going to a dialysis centre. It says "ambulatory", but most people do it at night, or begin it in the evening when they have more or less finished what they are doing for the day. And all the people who mentioned about the taxes etc. are absolutely right. THIS is when you see your tax euros in action, and at least you will not have the financial stress and won't lose your home. I am very glad for you. Husband will probably realistically not recover his full energy levels until he gets a transplant, so things will be heavier for you, but you will both overcome it. When he does get a transplant, bear in mind that he will be on immuno-suppressants for the rest of his life (likely) in for his body not to reject the kidney. These can cause side effects. So, things may never be exactly as they were before, but they will be pretty good.

[oompah18]

Thanks again biscayne for your really helpful comments, yes i was reading about the side effects of immuno-suppressents.....
Anyway, looks like I might have to get antstar to go to prisma for me , because just in case I hadn´t got enough going on right now, the eldest, 6 yr old, has got chickenpox/vesirokko! Oh joy! So that means he misses the last week of esikoulu, shame, but it really means no footie practice for him (he is sooo angry), no friends over, no taking the OTHER kids out & leaving him at home (too young I think), no shopping, sigh, until one of the volunteers for childminding comes this week..... Then of course, the 4 yr old then the 3 yr old get it. Looks like I´ll be in the house for a month Hubby may be home by then, & he had it as a child, as I did. I checked on a www & discovered that it was seldom found in babies as young as my 6mth old, so that should be one saving grace, but she has an ear infection now & is on antibiotics, sigh again.....
Anyway, here´s hoping hubby keeps improving, weather stays better than last summer & I keep awake (it´s 12.35am as I write this!)
More soon....
Allie

[Amandine.K]

I wouldn't count too much on your little girl not to get it. Elea and Kiara got it at just 6 months old from a visit to my cousins in France. Nice way to spend Christmas! The positive thing is that at that age they don't scratch that much and she'll only get it once. Hopefully the kids won't have it too strong!

[Pursuivant]

Its better to have when 6, I had it at 16 and got traumatized...