When I started daily nocturnal home hemodialysis in May 2006, I dialyzed six times a week and took Sundays off. It was that way for a long, long time. However those were the days of huge fluid weight gains. Sometimes even 5 kgs in one day! So, my Mondays would be pretty uncomfortable. Heavy chest and all. There were two main reasons I was doing this. Most of my mentors in the US (Bill Peckham, Rich Berkowitz and Pierre Lachan) were doing six nights a week. So, I did too. And Jairam, the guy who did the dialysis for me would take Sundays off.

Then somewhere down the line, I learnt the ropes and could do everything on my own - from start to finish. So, I thought why not make my Mondays comfortable? And I switched to seven times a week! Six nights Jairam would do most of it and Sundays I would do everything. I would be alone in my room and I would do everything from start to finish on my own. My parents would be in the house though and I always had my cell phone next to me to call them should I need help.

Earlier this year, however, my parents went on a holiday to the US. I was home alone. Before going, they extracted a promise from me never to dialyze alone. They shuddered at the thought of a blood leak and no one in the house to help me. So, I switched back to six nights a week when Jairam would come and took Sundays off from dialysis.

Recently, involuntarily, my fluid intake has reduced. I put on, on an average, only about 2 to 2.5 kgs of fluid weight between sessions. Also, to be honest with you, I have started to tire of dialysis. Fourteen years are taking their toll. Needles are not pleasant. It is very difficult to get used to them. I was also 'inspired' by Bill Peckham's "two nights on, one night off" regimen! So, I decided to take Thursdays off as well. So, these days, I dialyze Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, take Thursday off, then dialyze Friday, Saturday and take Sundays off.