– Jagritah Vikriti – Biswajit Roy

‘Who said you cannot travel on dialysis? People on dialysis CAN and SHOULD travel! And what better way to experience the joys of a relaxing holiday than the professional and world-class quality of NephroPlus?’

The above is what ‘NephroPlus’ (my dialysis partner), says to encourage all its patrons. I have always been a travel enthusiast. I Have roamed around the globe and have climbed a snow capped mountain peak at 14,000 feet. I won’t let my condition stop me from travelling.

Some facts about me:

• 2017 is when I got to know about my ESRD at age 38.
• 2019 is when I got the gift of life from my dear mother in law ‘Asha’ and had my preemptive, ABO compatible but 0/6 HLA match transplant.
• 2021 is when life decide to throw a curved ball and my transplant failed.
• 2021 May onwards I have been on Hemo-Dialysis at Nephroplus, Hyderabad.

But life needs to move on and life needs to be lived. I have 2 lovely kids (Ishaan & Tishya) and the best life partner God could have given me (Swati). They are my strength.

My First holiday during Dialysis (Goa):

• After being stranded at home due to the pandemic, in October 2021, we decide we will go to Goa. I did not plan to get dialyzed during the trip. I was double vaccinated at this time. 
• I got dialyzed on Friday and then flew to Goa the very same day. We spent 4 nights in Goa & came back to Hyderabad on Tuesday. I immediately went to my dialysis center to get dialyzed. The holiday was loads of fun but I want to focus on what went right and what went wrong in a Holiday for a dialysis patient.

First, what went right:

• I planned my diet before the trip for at least 2 weeks. Eating strictly low phosphorus low potassium diet.
• Got my tests done before travel, and confirmed that my potassium and phosphorus are in control.
• I was also watching my dry weight to ensure I am closest to my dry weight.

Now, what didn’t go right:

• As I traveled on the same day right after dialysis, during the way to airport and throughout the flight, I felt the feeling of ‘crash’.
• I gained 5 liters over 3.5 days. Thankfully, this didn’t cause any issue to me. But so much water gain can cause breathing issues and oedema.
• I went for high UF targets and tried to reduce the excess fluid in my body by targeting around 4 liters per session in the week after returning to base. This caused heavy feeling of ‘crash’, sugar drops, low BPs and vomiting during and after Dialysis.

My learning’s:

• Don’t travel on the day of dialysis. You want to save a few extra hours of holidays but remember you need to enjoy your holiday.
• Get dialyzed during your holiday… you are still a kidney patient
• Eat responsibly during your holiday … your body is not on holiday.
• Go easy on your body during dialysis, after holiday. Don’t set aggressive dialysis UF targets to catch up. Dialysis has its limits and our body has its limits. Don’t challenge your body.

My Second holiday during Dialysis (Bidar):

Armed with all the learning’s from my 1st holiday, I planned a weekend trip to Bidar in November. This time it was a road trip and it was my sons birthday that we were celebrating.

This time we ensured that:

• I did not travel on the dialysis day. This helped me enjoy the road trip and be active with my family while travelling.
• I also ate more responsibly being reminded by my lovely wife who keeps my gluttonous instincts in check.
• As I didn’t gain a lot of fluid weight, I did not have challenges getting back to my dry weight. I went for UF targets of 2.4 – 3.0 liters.

My Third holiday during Dialysis (Kullu-Manali):

It was the summer of 2022 and the heat in Hyderabad was killing us. Naturally the thought of holiday in the hills came to mind. Now after spending the last 10 years in Hyderabad hills to us have become synonymous to Ooty, Coorg, Munnar..! These are beautiful places and a must visit for all travel enthusiasts. Swati and I have spent our early years of marriage in Gurgaon and back then, hills meant – Shimla, Manali, Auli, Dharamshala. The heat of the summer of 22, forced us to get more daring and push our limits.

This time the destination planned was Kullu-Manali. It was our 17th Marriage Anniversary.  We also have family in Gurgaon and Meerut, so the plan was to go to Manali and then visit our family and then return to base.

We knew this would be challenging as this involved flying to Chandigarh, a 2 way road trip through the snaky mountains roads of Himachal (each side 10 hours each), extreme cold weather of Lahaul, a train journey from Chandigarh to Delhi and 46+ degrees Delhi temperature. Additionally such a trip usually requires a lot of planning as it tends to be a long 7-10 day trip.

We started planning our trip with a call to the Kullu NephroPlus center. The welcoming voice of ‘Dinesh’ a lead technician, immediately put me at ease. Post a few questions, he blocked 2 slots I needed on Monday and Wednesday during my stay at Kullu-Manali. Slots were in the evening at 4:00 pm as the earlier slots were already blocked for regular patients. This was okay for us. We then booked our tickets and hotel and started planning our itinerary. Our objective was to have a trip full of adventure activities and as a family play in snow for the 1st time together.

• 22nd Friday – Went for my regular dialysis slot at 11:00 pm and came back home and finished up my office work and slept.
• 23rd Saturday – 4 of us took a morning flight from Hyderabad to Chandigarh reaching at 12:00. Immediately we started our road trip and reached Manali at 12:00 midnight. We stopped at a couple of places for food and breaks.
• 24th Sunday – We were greeted on our Anniversary with the blessed views of the snow capped mountains of the Hampta-Pass from our window. We did River Rafting in the chilly waters of the Beas, shopped on Mall Road & enjoyed a family dinner in the laps of the mountains.
• 25th Monday – We travelled to the Lahaul side through the Atal tunnel (Rohtang) to a place called Khoksar. On the way we did Zip-Lining over the Beas river. Khoksar had huge patches of snow which must have fallen a couple of weeks back. We did snow tubing, skiing & a lot of sliding on the snow. The kids threw snow balls at each other and at us and occasionally got a few back from us. The weather in the mountains are unpredictable. It suddenly started snowing in the mountain peak and down in the valley (where we were) it started raining. A cafe provided us shelter along with the much needed Thukpa, Momos and Maggi in the hills. We returned to the hotel by 3:00 pm & I left for Kullu where NephroPlus opened its dialysis center in July 2021.

• 26th Tuesday – We visited the Manali local tourist places, ate at famous cafés, shopped in Mall Road and had a full day of family fun.
• 27th Wednesday- We went for paragliding on this day. Amazing adventure and not at all scary. Should definitely try it. Also got dialyzed at NephroPlus, Kullu. My son got dehydrated and had to call for a doctor. He felt better after the nights rest and 2 injections.

• 28th Thursday – Started our 10 hour long journey back to Chandigarh. Must mention that our kids were an excellent support during this entire trip. We stayed the night at Chandigarh.
• 29th Friday – We took the early morning chair car train to Delhi. The heat in Delhi as we stepped out of the train felt like standing in a brick kiln furnace. Meeting Parents was a joy in its own kind.
• 30th Saturday – I had blocked a dialysis slot at NephroPlus, Fortis hospital. Fortis is a very big and plush premium hospital catering to the affluent folks of Gurgaon. Getting dialyzed at this center reminded me that the condition we share, does not know the bank balance of any individual. Also saw the same scenes that you see at every Dialysis center. Active technicians, family waiting, patients resting and getting treated.
• 1^st Sunday – Meeting my cousin sister and my elder brother and their families was so refreshing as we discussed past memories and cherished what we have together.
• 2^nd Monday – An early morning flight took me to Hyderabad and I rushed to my dialysis center at NephroPlus’s Citizen Hospital branch. I was greeted with the usual smiling faces of the technicians who wanted to know all about how the trip was. I am blessed to have this center and such lovely technicians so close to my home. Also met my doctor Dr. Seerapani Gopaluni. Got my post trip tests and my session.

This time as I had not missed my ‘3 per week’ dialysis schedule, it didn’t gain too much but we stuck to a 2 week catch up plan, setting UF targets of 2.4-3.0 liters.

Today is 16th, Monday, and as I lay on my Dialysis bed and the machine purifies my blood and sets me up for another power packed week in the office and home, I want to take this opportunity to write to all of you sharing my adventures with ‘Holiday Dialysis’.

As NephroPlus says – ‘Simply decide where you want to go and let us know. We will make sure you get high quality dialysis at your holiday destination at our centers.’ Please plan ahead of time and work with your dialysis center manager to make the necessary arrangements for your dialysis.

My learning’s:

• Never miss your session during holiday
• Eat responsibly with an occasional treat. Portion control is critical.
• Plan your holidays in advance so that it is not so expensive.
• Research a lot to understand what can go wrong and what will you do in times of crisis.
• Carry your medical file and reports on your mobile and also a soft copy
• Share your details and complexities/needs (if any) with your holiday dialysis technicians.
• Instead of water, try sipping on ice when you can during your trip.
• Call up the restaurant in your hotel and ask them to make a low sodium khichri for a few meals to ensure you are balancing your intake.
• Explain your needs to your family and plan your itinerary around your dialysis session.
• Plan your expenses… there are multiple options to reduce travel expenses and early bookings and alternate planning can reduce expense considerably.
• Don’t take excessive risks but also know what risks are okay to take. Paragliding, River Rafting, Zip lining, Skiing all can be dangerous but shouldn’t limit us due to our condition.

Link to Blog : https://jagritahvikriti.blogspot.com/