Kidney Dialysis-there is a Better Way

What exactly does having to go on dialysis mean? How does one get into "end stage" kidney disease? What are your options while you are waiting for a kidney transplant?

There are three: in-center, peritoneal and in-home versions.

Dr. Turan Marwaha, a specialist in internal medicine and nephrology, says over 20 million Americans - 1 in 9 adults - have chronic kidney disease. There are another 20 million at high risk for the condition. Marwaha is the Home Dialysis Program medical director for RAI Care Center in Westminster, California. He is also on staff at Hoag Hospital, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, all in Orange County, California.

Are you one of those who could conceivably be at risk? You are if you have diabetes, hypertension (uncontrolled high blood pressure) and have a family history of kidney failure.

Being told you need dialysis is a frightening experience, according to Gladis Cole, 34, of Anaheim, California. She's a busy mother of three who has been battling kidney failure for more than eight years due to high blood pressure and complications during her second pregnancy. Her sister donated a kidney, and for three years she did not need dialysis. When she decided to have her third child, the donated kidney failed.

Cole has been on all three forms of dialysis.

A nurse who helped Cole during her in-center treatments and who became a good friend convinced her to try the in-home version. After a six-week training program and surgery to create two shafts in her arm for the big needles needed for the machine, Cole officially began her in-home therapy in September.

She uses the NxStage System One machine, which is the size of a personal computer and weighs about 70 pounds. Cole says she loves this method. When she was doing in-center dialysis she had to be up at 3 a.m. for her driver and wouldn't get home until well after noon. Then she would be so fatigued, nauseous and in pain she would have to take a four hour nap. This would be three days of her week.

Now, she has so much energy that she doesn't need naps, does regular exercise, and no longer gets nauseated. The best part: She is able to go on a vacation.

"I would want to go visit my grandmother in Mexico, but wouldn't dare think of staying longer than three days," she said. "I couldn't go longer than that because I had to get rid of the buildup of toxins in my body. But now, we tell NxStage where we'll be and they send out what I will need for whatever amount of time we'll be gone. Woo hoo!"

She uses her machine five nights a week for approximately two hours per session.

Marwaha says that while there are eight companies that make in-home dialysis possible, only two are available in the U.S. Of those two, one requires special plumbing to be installed in the patient's home. He says the machine of choice is the NxStage System One.

The NxStage System One was the first truly portable hemodialysis system cleared for home use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, in June 2005. It uses a small control unit, a disposable daily cartridge and filter, and high-purity fluid. Because the treatment is done more often during the week, toxins do not have the same amount of build-up time.

Marwaha says that patients who are using in-home dialysis have more energy, are able to spend more time with their families and have a better quality of life.