Now the question is did Fresenius do it for patients well being or because they figured it would be cheaper in the long run with out needing a reuse team, reuse machines, chemicals, etc, etc.
The line they told me 20 years ago was that when a filter is reused the holes get bigger and more toxins get out.
Since I have been back on Heamo the unit have never reused a dialyzers/kidney. Went back on for a rest from CAPD in 97. Been back on heamo 3 x 4 hours a week since 2000. In the 70's we reused the dialyzer/kidney but they were 6 feet long and 2 feet wide Plus you had to use a socket set to put the dialyzer together. I could do it nearly blindfolded at the age of 11years
Quote from: Joe Paul on September 16, 2006, 03:07:10 AMQuote from: Hawkeye on August 31, 2006, 02:56:07 PMUnless you are on blood thinners there should be no problem, but you will still bleed some if you get one. On of the most important things you want to watch out for is that your tattoo parlor of choice uses new needles for each person. You do not want a place that just autoclaves there needles. They claim it "cleans" them, but there is too much room for human error for my liking. Gross comparison, but that's like someone saying I just scrubbed the toilet you can drink out of it if you like. It could never be "cleaned" enough for me.Wouldn't flushing a reusable kidney pose the same risks?Yes I agree completely. There is too much room for human error in the "cleaning" process of dialyzers. Reuse dialyzers should be tagged with the patients name so the same dial goes to that same patient for the life of that dial, so getting someone else's dial shouldn't be an issue. Things do happen though, and most people won't own up to a mistake they just try to cover it up to save their butts. When the dials are reused they use a very harsh and high level disinfectant to clean them. The chemicals are so bad a gas mask has to be worn by the reuse tech so they can breath. I believe this process to be better than just spinning or autoclaving all the blood out, but I would never allow a reuse dial to be used on me.
Quote from: Hawkeye on August 31, 2006, 02:56:07 PMUnless you are on blood thinners there should be no problem, but you will still bleed some if you get one. On of the most important things you want to watch out for is that your tattoo parlor of choice uses new needles for each person. You do not want a place that just autoclaves there needles. They claim it "cleans" them, but there is too much room for human error for my liking. Gross comparison, but that's like someone saying I just scrubbed the toilet you can drink out of it if you like. It could never be "cleaned" enough for me.Wouldn't flushing a reusable kidney pose the same risks?
Unless you are on blood thinners there should be no problem, but you will still bleed some if you get one. On of the most important things you want to watch out for is that your tattoo parlor of choice uses new needles for each person. You do not want a place that just autoclaves there needles. They claim it "cleans" them, but there is too much room for human error for my liking. Gross comparison, but that's like someone saying I just scrubbed the toilet you can drink out of it if you like. It could never be "cleaned" enough for me.
My centre does not reuse. I'm glad that they don't. I would be worried about getting somebody else's. I just need to look through my folder and I see other peoples notes filed away in mine. It would be just too easy to make a mistake and the consequences would be great.
My records were always accessible. They sat in a large notebook on top of the machine and could be examined at any time.
My body opted out of reuse for me. I have an allergy to either renalyn or the fibers in certain types of dialyzers. I get real sick from it all. No more reuse after they tried killing me off in 2004 by changing my dialyzer on me.
Fresenius just switched over to a new way of sterilizing their dials at the manufacturing plant because it was found that some people were having reactions to the old method.
Is that gamma instead of EO?
Quote from: Zach on September 20, 2006, 09:06:49 AMIs that gamma instead of EO?No, it's not gamma and I'm not sure what EO is. It used to be a chemical sterilization process. Now they are using an electron beam sterilization process on their dialyzers.