A Chinese man underwent dialysis for 13 years using a machine he made himself out of old medical equipment and kitchen utensils as a makeshift treatment because he couldn’t afford hospital bills.
Ho Songwen told reporters that two of his friends died using his temporary dialysis system, but he is dedicated to his home treatment.
He noted that getting his dialysis costs him about $9.63 (60 yuan) per session, 80 percent less than what he would pay at a clinic.
Hu uses his machine 3 times a week, pumping out his blood through medical tubing and using a homemade dialysis solution that he mixes himself in order to clean the toxins that his own kidneys are unable to remove from his blood.
When news of his potentially dangerous home treatment spread in local reports, Ho was offered government aid that would defray the cost of the medical treatment he pays for at home.
Hu told reports that the clinic was far from his home in Kutang Township, Jiangsu Province, where he lives with his 81-year-old mother, and that he was reluctant to travel.
