Hong Kong foundation highlights boon of peritoneal dialysis at home to kidney failure patients
Treatment allows Ng Yuk Mui, 65, earlier diagnosed with diabetes, to enjoy daily activities that would otherwise be regularly disrupted
For 65-year-old Ng Yuk-mui, connecting a pipe to her belly to flush out waste products from her blood has become a nightly routine since 2019 when she was diagnosed with kidney failure.
With help from her daughter, the retired joss stick shop owner undergoes peritoneal dialysis at home every night, with the machine that cleanses her abdomen running for hours while she sleeps.
“I was diagnosed with diabetes three years before my kidney failure. I felt my body weakening and my sight worsening, but I did not want to trouble my children,” she said.
“One day in 2019, I felt exhausted, my body was swollen and I couldn’t breathe. When I sought help at the hospital, I found out I had kidney failure.”
She is one of 5,280 kidney failure patients in Hong Kong who have to undergo peritoneal dialysis on a daily basis, but the treatment at home allows her to enjoy daily activities that would otherwise be disrupted by frequent visits to a medical centre.
According to Hospital Authority figures, there were more than 11,200 kidney failure patients last year, with 22 per cent treated through ongoing haemodialysis or blood dialysis, while 47 per cent underwent peritoneal dialysis.
