Athlete keeps going with dialysis at home

Athlete keeps going with dialysis at home
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
By Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A home dialysis machine has made it much easier for Brad Davern to be again the athlete he was before his kidneys failed.

Mr. Davern, now 29, was a sophomore on a basketball scholarship at Bethany College in West Virginia when, on the Fourth of July in 2001, his doctor called with the terrible news.

Mr. Davern had gone to see his doctor because, he recalled, "I had no energy. I couldn't run up and down the court. I was coughing up blood for two weeks."

He had Wegener's Granulomatosis, an inflammation of the arteries that supply blood to the lungs, sinuses and kidneys. He was in and out of hospitals for the next five years. He had two kidney transplants, but his body rejected them both.

Healthy kidneys remove waste products and excess fluid from the body in the form of urine. Because Mr. Davern's kidneys don't work, he needs a dialysis machine to clean his blood.

For years, this meant going to a dialysis center three days a week, for about four hours a session.

"You feel like a helium balloon going in, drained when you go out," Mr. Davern said.

The sessions were so draining Mr. Davern would need to sleep for three or four hours after returning home from one before he had the energy to do anything.

But since January 2008, he's been able to do his dialysis at home.

"I've got more energy now, and I eat and sleep better," he said.

Mr. Davern's also been able to travel to Ocean City, Md., and Miami to compete in triathlons, something that would have been difficult -- if not impossible -- to do if he were still going to the dialysis center three days a week.

What's made the difference is NxStage System One, a small, portable hemodialysis system.

"It's about the size of a 13-inch TV," said Kelly Burton, a registered nurse who is Home Operations Group Administrator for DaVita Healthcare in Pittsburgh. "It plugs into any standard outlet, hooks up to any faucet, and drains into any toilet or sink."

And it's portable, so Mr. Davern can take it with him when he wants to compete in a triathlon in another city.

Mr. Davern uses the portable system for three hours in the evening, five days a week.

Using the system more frequently for shorter periods of time reduces strain on the heart, improves blood pressure control, improves anemia control, and improves nutrition, Ms. Burton said.

"The thinking behind that is the natural function of the kidneys works 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said. "This machine mimics that."

Because the waste products are removed from his blood more often, Mr. Davern doesn't feel as bloated as he did when he was going to the dialysis center every other day, or as exhausted when the treatment is finished.

"At home doing it is more like your kidneys are [supposed to be working]," he said.

Ms. Burton said she's seen a definite improvement in the health of her dialysis patients who are now doing their dialysis at home.

"I've seen patients come in very, very sick, and within a month's time they're ready to work part time and get back to their normal routines," she said.

The flexibility provided by the home dialysis has made it possible for Mr. Davern to work out more, and to perform better when he competes. He had his best time ever in a triathlon -- one hour and 53 minutes for the swim, run and bike ride -- in the "Escape to Miami" triathlon last Sept. 27.

He plans next to compete in a triathlon in Las Vegas Oct. 16. Before that, he'll be swimming in four events and competing in basketball and volleyball at the Transplant Games, a four day athletic competition sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation, which will be held this year in Madison, Wis., July 31-Aug. 4.

To keep fit, Mr. Davern does 40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five times a week, and lifts weights for about an hour four to five times a week. That vigorous a schedule wasn't possible when he had to go to a dialysis center for treatment.

"I'm still struggling a little trying to get my legs back," Mr. Davern said. But the improvement in his health since he started home dialysis is significant, he said.

This is important, he said, because exercise helps him cope with his disease.

"I guarantee that working out has a lot to do with it."

Jack Kelly: jkelly@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1476.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10160/1064083-114.stm#ixzz0qL7pD0Gl