nxstage in Canada

[del]

I am so excited!!!!!  Hubby is going to be trained on nxstage in the near future as a trial in our province.  A friend of ours took part in a pilot project in BC and she loves it.  Hubby has been on dialysis for over 17 years and for the last 8 years has been doing home hemo nocturnal on the home fresenius machine.  The only downfall is that the bags of solution for traveling are not approved in Canada yet but I am sure it won't be long.  We have to go to the city - a 6 hour drive for us- to do about 2 weeks training. All expenses will be paid though.  They will leave the dialysis machine and the ro that we have now in our house until they see how nxstage works.  They want to see if there will be any difference in his bloodwork.  If it works out it will be so good to be able to travel a little and at least go visit friends for more than one night at a time. We have no idea when we will have to go yet but it will probably be before Christmas.






EDITED: Moved to NX-Stage user topic area- kitkatz, admin

[obsidianom]

I am so excited!!!!!  Hubby is going to be trained on nxstage in the near future as a trial in our province.  A friend of ours took part in a pilot project in BC and she loves it.  Hubby has been on dialysis for over 17 years and for the last 8 years has been doing home hemo nocturnal on the home fresenius machine.  The only downfall is that the bags of solution for traveling are not approved in Canada yet but I am sure it won't be long.  We have to go to the city - a 6 hour drive for us- to do about 2 weeks training. All expenses will be paid though.  They will leave the dialysis machine and the ro that we have now in our house until they see how nxstage works.  They want to see if there will be any difference in his bloodwork.  If it works out it will be so good to be able to travel a little and at least go visit friends for more than one night at a time. We have no idea when we will have to go yet but it will probably be before Christmas.

Congratulations. If you have questions or need help on the Nxstage , just ask. We have been using it for over 2 years quite sucessfully. My wife feels a lot better on it then the Fresenius machines.

[del]

I am sure we will have lots of questions! There is going to be a heparin pump put on the machine so that he can still do nocturnal!!

[RAQ]

Could you tell me what province you live in? We live in Nova Scotia. We have been hearing about NxStage in the US and UK for years and we wondered why it has not been approved for use in Canada. The travel possibilities with NxStage interest us.

[del]

We are pretty close to you!!  Newfoundland.  We haven't been trained yet because setting up a new dialysis unit is taking priority and rightfully so because it will benefit more people.  We have to travel to St. John's (a 6 hour drive from us )to be trained and waiting until later in the spring or early summer is better for us.  Don't really want to be away from home during the winter months.

[RAQ]

Hello del.

We just read your reply and are excited that you are just in the next province. My wife, who was born in Newfoundland and lived there till age 12, has been on centre-based hemo for about 5 years. Last summer she had a live donor transplant from a friend which hasn't worked, so far. It was quite discouraging for her to to have to return to dialysis right after the transplant. We may check back with you later in the year to see how you made out with the training and actual use of Nxstage. I hope you will post a progress note. Thanks for sharing the information. Although centre-based traveling dialysis is possible, it is not easy to arrange (especially in Canada) and it takes a lot of planning.

[del]

Nxstage is still in the works but looks like training will be later in the spring.  Too bad your wife's transplant didn't work.    Getting a treatment at a dialysis unit is almost next to impossible here. We have had issues when hubby's machine has broken down.  Where in Newfoundland did your wife live?

[RAQ]

Hi Del.

My wife was born in St. John's and lived there until age 12 when her family moved to Halifax. We haven't been back for many years. As you know, being on dialysis complicates travel.

[RAQ]

Hi Del.

We exchanged messages last winter about your planned trial with Nexstage. We are the couple who live in Nova Scotia. Do you have anything to report about using Nexstage?

[willowtreewren]

I'm sure Del will weigh in, but their training is supposed to start this month! 

[del]

Hi Del.

My wife was born in St. John's and lived there until age 12 when her family moved to Halifax. We haven't been back for many years. As you know, being on dialysis complicates travel.

Nxstage training is supposed to start on Nov. 16th.  It is being done in the hospital about an hours drive from us so we get to come home every night.  Training will be Monday -Friday and we will have weekends off.  Nxstage is going to be used in other dialysis units in Newfoundland as well.  I will let you know how it goes.

[Bill Peckham]

Any updates?