Paradise and Dialysis At Sea

A Dialysis cruise?   It seems an incredible dream.  Thats because most people on dialysis imagine, well, this is it.  Ill stay at home, wave out the window and pretend Im Emily Dickenson; I pretty much have to, since Im strapped to a machine keeping me alive. 

They might be surprised to learn that there are cruisesyes, to the Caribbean and other exotic ports of calldesigned especially for them.   Such programs as Dialysis at Sea and other amazing adventures, available at their respective websites, are as close as the Internet to book, and are proof positive that dialysis cruise ships, far from being a dream, are wonderful realities ready to improve the quality of life. 
 
The dream vacation is a Caribbean cruise, and the dialysis patient does NOT, repeat NOT, spend the cruise in his/her cabin! 

The patient gets the permanent care of a ships doctor (no, they dont have to bunk with him 24/7), but nobody stands at their elbow, or hovers or fusses or worries over them.  They are as free to move wherever they like as anyone else on board a ship, going to exotic ports of call. 

After all, the Caribbean has been there for untold centuries, calling adventurous people to sample its great foods, explore its diamond-crust beaches, swim in its warmly inviting turquoise waters, see and thrill to its underwater sea life, and , of course, enjoy all the day and night life above the sea also. 

The tours for dialysis patients are as romantic, thrilling and adventurous as for anyone else; in fact, dialysis cruises have been in existence since 1977, from Europe to the southern Seas, from Hawaii to Alaska and back again.   And the vacation is every bit as astounding and dream-fulfilling as those that so called normal people enjoy.

There are scheduled dialysis appointments at specific times every day.  For the rest of the time, every activity on board is in reach and the amazing sights of Caribbean resorts are there for the taking: botanical gardens, pleasure pools, massage parlors (Royal Caribbean has some dandies, but every dialysis cruise has such amenities).   There are dance floors on and off the ship, night clubs, big bands, pleasure spots everywhere.
 
Imagine nowyoure a dialysis patient.  You have your morning session with the doctor.  You go off shopping, boating and sight-seeing until the late afternoon.  Youre never bored, because dialysis cruise ships visit only the most amazing and exciting cities, where you can enjoy secure and easy tours, pleasure-seeking and unlimited activities, including lying on that diamond-white beach and feeling the warm sea and sands sloshing against your toes.
  
Dialysis cruises even offer deep sea diving lessons, so you can thrill to the astounding coral reefs and the undersea denizens that inhabit them.   No experience is required, by the way.
 
You have your second session (they only take half an hour out of your time), and then youre dining, dancing, gambling and laughing the evening away.
  
Late evening:  your final session.  And you thank the skilled and friendly medical staff on board (including a board-certified nephrologist) and all those great dialysis nurses for giving you another carefree day.

And so you go to bed, and your dreams and memories. 

All a patient needs to register for a dialysis cruise is their medical records, dialysis flowcharts and medications.   After that, they are free, happy, unconfined, un-cabined, and having an amazing time on this joyful, healthy, incredible adventure.  

Dialysis at Sea is a wonderful concept, and their cruises make for astounding and everlasting memories.  And they remind the patient that, on a dialysis cruise, life doesnt stop for one little disability.