Dialysis in the hospital kills the better part of a day. Treatment in the comfort and privacy of one's own home and at one's own convenience is much less of a hardship. There are various side effects to hemodialysis, especially during the first few months of treatment. New complications may sometimes occur. Those who are so inclined may easily find something to worry about.
Side effects are as varied as the patients themselves.
There is absolutely no pain associated with the treatment, nor any sensation of blood entering and leaving the body. But many patients have great difficulty in adapting to the idea that their lives are dependent on a mechanical contrivance. It is my contention that this problem of adapting counts as much as any physiological factors toward the variations found in the degree of success derived from chronic hemodialysis. In particular, a great deal of anxiety is attached to shunt care. Concern for its integrity is always lingering in his mind, and he must not partake in any exercise sufficiently violent to endanger it.