Home » News » Health
October 20. 2012 8:22PM
Former Milford schoolteacher Janice Coburn of Manchester has been receiving in-home dialysis for about two years. (COURTESY)
There's a home remedy for dialysis patients
Former Milford schoolteacher Janice Coburn of Manchester has been receiving in-home dialysis for about two years. (COURTESY)
NASHUA — As rates of diabetes, hypertension and obesity continue to rise, the number of Americans with kidney failure is also skyrocketing.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, kidney disease affects more than 26 million people nationwide. In addition, about 400,000 Americans suffer from kidney failure and require dialysis or kidney transplantation to survive, according to the NKF website.
“Chronic kidney disease is not going away,” said Mary Abelleira, a nurse who runs the Home Dialysis Program at DaVita, a dialysis center on Tyler Street in Nashua. While the statistics are already alarming, she said, experts predict those numbers will keep rising.
But amid all the bad news regarding kidney disease, Abelleira said, there is some good, as the tedious process of dialysis becomes more convenient.
DaVita’s home hemodialysis program currently serves more patients than any other home hemodialysis program in the nation, according to the company’s website.
While most patients receive traditional dialysis at a center or local clinic, more and more people are beginning to take advantage of portable dialysis machines such as the NxStage System One that is used by DaVita.
“There is a stigma associated with in-center dialysis,” said Abelleira, explaining that many patients who receive in-center dialysis three times a week for up to four hours a sitting feel significantly fatigued after the procedure.
Dialysis at home can be performed more frequently with shorter treatment times, therefore mimicking normal kidney function and helping patients to feel better and have more energy, Abelleira said.
With home hemodialysis, patients perform treatments on their own schedule about five or six times a week at 2 1/2-hour intervals.
Patients taking advantage of the NxStage System One — the first portable hemodialysis machine on the market — have reported feeling better, requiring fewer blood pressure pills and having less-restrictive diets than those seeking treatments at centers, she said.
The key, she said, is more frequent dialysis treatments, a change that has the potential to significantly improve a patient’s health.
Janice Coburn, 52, is a DaVita patient who has been receiving at-home dialysis for about two years.
“This has been the best thing for me,” she said.
In 2004, Coburn was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and required numerous surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy. Three years ago, she was also diagnosed with end stage renal disease, or kidney failure, and immediately began dialysis treatments.
Coburn, a former longtime Milford schoolteacher who recently moved to Manchester, eventually learned about the NxStage System One and became a qualified candidate for at-home dialysis after a brief training period. Along with her husband, Coburn was taught by a nurse how to use the dialysis machine.
“It is such a benefit to be able to do this in the luxury of my own home and much less stressful than driving to the clinic so often,” she said. “Even though the responsibility is on me, I really do feel better now. It has been life-changing and really gave me the flexibility I needed.”
More frequent treatments have resulted in a surge of energy for Coburn, who no longer feels weak or shaky after dialyzing, she said.
Her improved health now allows her to babysit her grandchild and volunteer at Heron Pond Elementary School in Milford, where she was an assistant principal for 10 years.
Kidney disease is currently the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, and while home hemodialysis is not appropriate for everyone, Abelleira says it is beneficial for patients with a stable home environment and a dedicated care partner to assist with treatments.
Even patients who are hesitant with needles are often able to overcome their fears and learn the program throughout a three- to five-week training period. At DaVita in Nashua, seven patients are now using the at-home dialysis machine.
“DaVita believes in empowering patients to get involved in their care by providing access to the most comprehensive kidney disease education tools in the industry,” says its website.
Coburn is grateful that the at-home dialysis service offered by DaVita has energized her enough to resume her daily activities, which currently include planning her youngest daughter’s wedding.
Kimberly Houghton may be reached at khoughton@newstote.com.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, kidney disease affects more than 26 million people nationwide. In addition, about 400,000 Americans suffer from kidney failure and require dialysis or kidney transplantation to survive, according to the NKF website.
“Chronic kidney disease is not going away,” said Mary Abelleira, a nurse who runs the Home Dialysis Program at DaVita, a dialysis center on Tyler Street in Nashua. While the statistics are already alarming, she said, experts predict those numbers will keep rising.
But amid all the bad news regarding kidney disease, Abelleira said, there is some good, as the tedious process of dialysis becomes more convenient.
DaVita’s home hemodialysis program currently serves more patients than any other home hemodialysis program in the nation, according to the company’s website.
While most patients receive traditional dialysis at a center or local clinic, more and more people are beginning to take advantage of portable dialysis machines such as the NxStage System One that is used by DaVita.
“There is a stigma associated with in-center dialysis,” said Abelleira, explaining that many patients who receive in-center dialysis three times a week for up to four hours a sitting feel significantly fatigued after the procedure.
Dialysis at home can be performed more frequently with shorter treatment times, therefore mimicking normal kidney function and helping patients to feel better and have more energy, Abelleira said.
With home hemodialysis, patients perform treatments on their own schedule about five or six times a week at 2 1/2-hour intervals.
Patients taking advantage of the NxStage System One — the first portable hemodialysis machine on the market — have reported feeling better, requiring fewer blood pressure pills and having less-restrictive diets than those seeking treatments at centers, she said.
The key, she said, is more frequent dialysis treatments, a change that has the potential to significantly improve a patient’s health.
Janice Coburn, 52, is a DaVita patient who has been receiving at-home dialysis for about two years.
“This has been the best thing for me,” she said.
In 2004, Coburn was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and required numerous surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy. Three years ago, she was also diagnosed with end stage renal disease, or kidney failure, and immediately began dialysis treatments.
Coburn, a former longtime Milford schoolteacher who recently moved to Manchester, eventually learned about the NxStage System One and became a qualified candidate for at-home dialysis after a brief training period. Along with her husband, Coburn was taught by a nurse how to use the dialysis machine.
“It is such a benefit to be able to do this in the luxury of my own home and much less stressful than driving to the clinic so often,” she said. “Even though the responsibility is on me, I really do feel better now. It has been life-changing and really gave me the flexibility I needed.”
More frequent treatments have resulted in a surge of energy for Coburn, who no longer feels weak or shaky after dialyzing, she said.
Her improved health now allows her to babysit her grandchild and volunteer at Heron Pond Elementary School in Milford, where she was an assistant principal for 10 years.
Kidney disease is currently the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, and while home hemodialysis is not appropriate for everyone, Abelleira says it is beneficial for patients with a stable home environment and a dedicated care partner to assist with treatments.
Even patients who are hesitant with needles are often able to overcome their fears and learn the program throughout a three- to five-week training period. At DaVita in Nashua, seven patients are now using the at-home dialysis machine.
“DaVita believes in empowering patients to get involved in their care by providing access to the most comprehensive kidney disease education tools in the industry,” says its website.
Coburn is grateful that the at-home dialysis service offered by DaVita has energized her enough to resume her daily activities, which currently include planning her youngest daughter’s wedding.
- - - - - - - -
Kimberly Houghton may be reached at khoughton@newstote.com.
