I am writing this with 2,000 ml of dialyzate in my stomach area that passed through a tube, surgically implanted in my lower abdomen. The peritoneum is a membrane that sort of holds the organs in place. It is also a semipermeable membrane, which means that waste products and some other things like protean can pass through capillaries into the dialyzate and then be drained out. I will start draining in a few minutes and then repeat the process four more times while I sleep. It allows me to go on living despite very poorly functioning kidneys. I have a small machine in the bedroom with just enough tubing to reach the bathroom, the computer, my reading chair, and the bed. It means that I’m sort of trapped, but it also means I am significantly free. I’ve been traveling to San Luis Obispo five times a week for hemodialysis, which is blood cleaning through a tube in my carotid artery, and peritoneal dialysis training. The past two visits I passed all the tests, and today my home was inspected, allowing me at last to start home dialysis.