Center offers patients dialysis in their sleep

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Center offers patients dialysis in their sleep
By ERIN PUSTAY
The Independent
Posted Feb 16, 2010 @ 09:16 AM
MASSILLON, OH —

Nothing is going to slow Kathie Nelson down. Not her diabetes, not her kidneys, not even her dialysis.

In fact, Nelson, a Jackson Township resident, isn’t losing sleep over her medical conditions. She’s rolling with the punches, embracing every second life has to offer and sleeping soundly knowing she’s getting the best of care.

Three nights a week, Nelson packs her bags, some clean bed sheets and her favorite quilt for what she calls a “slumber party.”

As a dialysis patient at the Massillon Dialysis Center, Nelson doesn’t have to give up four hours of her day-time routine for the procedure. Now, she can sleep peacefully with her overnight dialysis treatment.

Three nights a week, Nelson makes the bed – her bed – in the corner of the facility. She’ll bring her most comfortable pajamas, a pair of headphones for the little television at her bed side and maybe something to read.

“And I sleep really good,” Nelson said, “because this feels like home.”

Candi Willoughby, clinical manager of the Massillon Dialysis Center, smiles broadly when she hears Nelson’s compliment.

“When they come in, we want them to feel comfortable,” Willoughby said. “We want them to feel like they are in their own beds and we want them to be able to sleep.”

The dialysis treatments done during the overnight, eight-hour stay are exactly the same as the treatments given during a four-hour, daytime session. The only difference is that the treatments are slower at night. But that’s not a bad thing, Willoughby said, it actually makes patients feel better if the treatments are slower.

“The biggest advantage is being able to wake up and do what you want  to do during the day,” Willoughby said. “It eases them a little bit.”

Nelson said that is the best part. There is something comforting in knowing that she can sleep peacefully and know that she is going to be OK. There’s comfort in knowing that the next morning, she will feel healthy enough to take a brand new day.

For that, she said, there is no comparison.

“I have my whole day and I feel like I can be a normal person,” Nelson said. “It makes you feel better knowing that you can just take off and do something. And you feel healthy because this type of dialysis is easier on your body.”

Although the Massillon facility, located at 2474 Lincoln Way E., has only been offering the overnight dialysis option for a short time, those who have taken advantage of it love it. In fact, because they see each other three times a week, every week, they have bonded. Every single person that Nelson takes dialysis with are like her siblings. The nurses who work at night are also like family.

“I keep threatening to get an extension cord,” Nelson said. “Someday, I’m going to get one and go mobile with my dialysis so can I sit up all night and talk with the nurses at the nurses’ desk.”

http://www.indeonline.com/news/x1715238856/Massillon-Center-offers-patients-dialysis-in-their-sleep