Inpatient dialysis is available at F.F. Thompson Hospital for people who receive dialysis on a regular basis and need to be hospitalized for another reason. While you are here as an inpatient you will continue to receive your scheduled hemodialysis treatments. This allows dialysis patients to stay close to home during a hospitalization.

Our team of UR Medicine nephrologist ensure continuity of care by communicating with the hospitalists (in-hospital doctors), your personal nephrologist and the nephrology clinic that serves as your home base.

What we offer:

• A team of seven UR Medicine nephrologists supervising your treatment.
• Treatment provided in the convenient onsite dialysis unit.
• Mobile dialysis available at the bedside for less stable patients
• Dialysis unites are the same units used in your outpatient setting
• Your normal treatment schedule will continue
• Dialysis is available whether you are staying on the standard patient unit, Intensive Care Unit or in the Emergency Department

Thompson Hospital provides dialysis to its patients hospitalized for other conditions who need dialysis on a regular basis. In addition, nephrology consultations for both inpatients and outpatients dealing with kidney disease are available on a referral basis. Consult with your regular physician if you have any of the symptoms listed below.

What are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease?

Early detection is the first step in treating chronic kidney disease. The symptoms of kidney disease may include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Passing only small amounts of urine
• Swelling, particularly of the ankles, and puffiness around the eyes
• Unpleasant taste in the mouth and urine-like odor to the breath
• Persistent fatigue or shortness of breath
• Loss of appetite
• Increasingly higher blood pressure
• Muscle cramps, especially in the legs
• Pale skin
• Excessively dry, itchy skin

What is Dialysis?

Your kidneys help filter waste, excess fluid and toxins from your blood and are important for blood cell production and bone health. When kidneys don't work properly, harmful substances build up in the body, blood pressure rises and too much fluid can collect in the body's tissues, which leads to swelling.

If your kidneys fail, you will need a life-saving treatment called dialysis.

During hemodialysis, you will be hooked up to a machine that takes over the kidneys' job of filtering blood. Your blood flows a little bit at a time through a special filter inside the machine. The filter removes wastes and extra fluids from your blood, but retains the proper balance of minerals such as potassium and sodium. Once the blood is cleaned, it is returned to the body.