I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Home Dialysis - NxStage Users => Topic started by: tyefly on February 17, 2010, 09:35:20 AM
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I want to take my machine and go places..... I was wondering what other are doing for the movement.... I was thinking about a hand truck ( the fold up kind) and building a box to put the machine in... my center does not have a hard case and they have one soft case but want it return each time after use...... well If I go somewhere every week that wont work.... hate to just wrap a blanket around it and go...LOL This would be to be put in a car or RV..... you know to go visit... vacation.... what do the rest of do for travel....
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NxStage has a hard case that you can purchase for travel. However, we just put the machine on the back seat of our car and secure it with rope. It works well and it's easy for the two of us to carry. Depending on how often we travel, we may invest in a case, but for now it works well for us.
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We have a quad cab truck and put it on the floor in back.
We pack all the supplies that can't get cold in the cab part of the truck too, then put the bags of dialysate in big tubs in the bed of the truck.
Kathy, I have a packing list of supplies that also need to go so I don't forget anything. If you PM your e-mail address, I'll sent it to you. Or, I think it's in the document section of the NxStage users forum.
Aleta
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You are so orgainized.... We love people like you .... :rofl;
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We put Marvin's "Hercules" (his NxStage machine) in the back seat, cover it with a thick blanket, and then put the seat belt around it for security! We pack all the supplies in the trunk with our luggage. Hop-Sing (my four-legged baby) doesn't like it at all when Hercules travels with us because then he has to give up half of his back seat!! We also have a folding hand truck for the supplies, but I usually carry Hercules by myself (that bugger is heavy!) to and from the car. When we get where we're going, it's always nice to have strong help.
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Its hard to believe how heavy that little machine is...... I have never had a big problem with weight..... I use to put my 10hp honda kicker motor on my boat all the time... that weighied 75 lbs too... but seems like the last few years I have become a weakling.... I can lift it but its hard to carry it around like a purse......LOL
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The only time I pack the cycler up is when I fly. On my RV, I strap it on the cabinet that it sits on when I use it. That's a single fax/printer cabinet and I replaced the casters with heavy duty ones for the weight. In my car or van I just set it in and if it's in the car, I strap it in with the seat belt/shoulder strap. The soft sided case is nice with the wheels but it's a bit of pain to load the cycler into it. I'm looking at a fold up hand truck, that 70lbs can be a challenge - of course most of the time I draft my oldest grandson or my brother's grandson to haul it for me. Oh the joy of having youngins around to do the heavy lifting. Both my grandson's love showing me how strong they are....I like that :2thumbsup;
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Costco has a fantastic folding hand truck for less than $25, the wheels automatically fold in when the platform is pushed up, the handle retracts down into itself and it has a very small folded "footprint" it says it is good for 150 pounds. I use it quite often to move the supplies around the house (can make 2 trips to move all the saks and saline boxes, instead of multiple trips with 1 box each)......
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The machine is very durable. Just don't drop it! We pack ours in the trunk of our Mazda 6 along with everything else (mostly luggage and dialysate boxes, actually we unpack the dialysate to save space nowdays...). Anyway, we give it no special treatment at all. Just make sure you keep the front handle locked down. Don't let the sensors on the inside get dusty.
If you break it somehow they can get another one to you within 24 hours. We have never broke ours, but we have had it replaced 3 or 4 times for some odd "635" machine alarm or pump/fluid calibration problems. These happened out of the blue, not after a trip. The machines are all different. Some have two fans on the bottom. Some have only one fan on the bottom. Some have no fans. Some aren't compatible with the IV pole bracket.