A late-stage woman with kidney disease says she will die if she can find a place where she can get her treatment.
Diane Masterson, 36, said she felt so sick that she needed to have it at home for her to undergo dialysis in the hospital. She has end-stage renal failure, one organ fails completely, and the other organ is functioning at 10% of its volume.
“My consultant sent me to a vascular surgeon. The dialysis type in the hospital is not suitable for me because I'm not good enough,” she says. “You have to do home dialysis, known as peritoneal dialysis. It's a gentle, gentle form of dialysis.”
But Masterson's attempt to find a two-bedroom apartment suitable for her needs was founded as the cheapest in Dublin, which cost 2,670 euros a month.
She told her doctor two weeks ago that she needed to start dialysis at home within three weeks, so the situation was urgent, she said.
She is looking for a non-water-hard apartment with space to store dialysis machines and a sterile bathroom and bedroom that can pass through the process. She must be within a brief commute at St. James Hospital and Taragut University Hospital where she is currently undergoing treatment.
Ms. Masterson's current living arrangements are not suitable for promoting dialysis in the home. She claims it is being accepted by her social worker and medical team, Dublin City Council.
She said that sick wages and welfare payments are not enough to cover the costs of a two-bedroom apartment. The real estate agency in the apartment she found will not allow her to do so as the payment will be more than two-thirds of her income. She said she needs a total revenue of 135,000 euros per year to meet the letdown threshold.
She is registered as homeless with a homeless agency and applied to Dublin City Council with the maximum Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), but the council said she is not eligible to pay and the rent required is too high. “They say they're above the limit on the income I get, but these are not normal circumstances. These living arrangements are necessary for home dialysis,” she said.
Masterson said the hospital's dialysis costs 50,000 euros per year. “Looking for 15,000 euros a year to get this on the line is not a big question,” she added.
She needs a kidney transplant, but her blood pressure is too low to do so that it is not enough to cause such a procedure.
“I asked all the ministers for help. We have reservations on Thursday. If I don't have a home, they can give someone else an appointment,” she said. “It's not the cure I'm looking for, but it's extending my life. Otherwise, my kidneys will fail completely and I will die. I shouldn't waste my energy on this.”
Sinn Fair President Mary Lou MacDonald and Labour leader Ivana Basik have offered to represent her in a deal with Dublin City Council, which was contacted for comment.
