Self-care Dialysis?

WellBound Teams With Kaiser Permanente to Open New Self-Care Dialysis Center in Sacramento, CA. What will they think of next? I'm all for making health care more accessible and affordable. And, I suppose, with the right patient education and the right medical technology, that this could work for people with long term dialysis needs. It's just a little scary to me. I mean, it does involve tapping into your blood stream. Perhaps there are safety precautions to make sure that you don't inadvertently bleed yourself dry by accident. (Actually, I'm being a bit facetious here. My husband says that technicians do set up the intravenous connections.)

What's next? Mall kiosks for self-care radiation therapy? Perhaps a flu-shot machine next to that passport photo booth? If the Red Cross is desperate enough for blood donations, perhaps they should look into 24x7 self service stations where you donate blood without having to have a technician present.

I did read an interesting article today about a little radioactive seed that can be implanted in a woman's breast after a lumpectomy. It's placed where the lump was removed, and it delivers low-dose radiation to the tissues immediately surrounding the area the lump was growing in. Pretty interesting stuff.

Now, if they could just come up with a way to deliver pain relief to localized areas for chronic pain sufferers, without impairing their function, that would be grand. (Note: A VERY bad back week.)