00:00For Hayley Van Hostoyen, dialysis has been life-saving.
00:06It's also been life-changing.
00:08You just have to sacrifice so much of yourself, so much of your family, you know, and it's
00:13just not fair.
00:15Diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure while pregnant with her daughter Sage, Ms Van Hostoyen
00:20spends at least 20 hours a week on dialysis and needs a transplant to survive.
00:25For the past year, she's been sharing her struggles online, from having to quit her
00:29job to spending time away from her family.
00:32Going from such a normal, habitual life doing hair as a trade and being vivacious to being
00:37stuck in a bed and not able to have any leave, really isolating as well, really lonely.
00:43Research from Kidney Health Australia shows Ms Van Hostoyen's experiences aren't unique.
00:49A survey of current and former dialysis patients found 92% reported life disruptions, half
00:55had experienced depression and more than 80% had faced financial hardship due to treatment
01:00costs.
01:01Concerningly, 39% also said they'd considered stopping dialysis because of how it impacted
01:07their quality of life.
01:09You're on dialysis at least three times a week for five hours.
01:13Kidney Health Australia wants to end dialysis as a standard treatment by 2050 and says that's
01:19possible by focusing on better detection, diagnosis and treatment for people at the
01:24early stages of kidney disease, but that requires greater investment.
01:29We have an opportunity we've never had for decades.
01:32We have new medications that combined with lifestyle interventions have been shown to
01:36slow or even stop the progression to kidney failure.
01:40I can't wait for the day that I've got minimum 20 hours a week spare.
01:44Getting to the other side, all the amazing things I'm going to do with my family.
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