New Baxter cycler

[Willis]

I was given a flyer last week by my PD nurse saying that Baxter is replacing all of their HomeChoice Pro cyclers. The flyer said that they plan to replace all of the old cyclers within 12 months. From what I could tell, it's mostly a software and computer upgrade and the cycler itself looks the same from the outside. One change mentioned concerned patients making ad-hoc changes (like BYPASS) or re-programming the prescription by changing the dwell size manually. They are intentionally making it more difficult to prevent things like accidental overfills. That's good I guess, but when I had to change my program once because the total dwell in MLs exceeded the capacity of the bags (!), my nurse talked me through the change over the phone. Now likely she will have to make a trip to my house or I'll have to lug the cycler to her. 

Looks like Baxter is trying to take away some of the things that give us any kind of individual choice because a few idiots can't handle the responsibility. Another example of that arrived recently: as of July 1st they no longer allow patients to call for supplies except on their appointed ordering date. If you need something, only your PD nurse can order it. That's great if you have a good PD nurse like I do; but if yours is a crank, it could lead to more power manipulation. Fewer choices and more stress is something none of us need.

 

[lmunchkin]

I understand completely. They are always making changes and just when you get in a routine, they mess it up for ya!  It does help to have a good nurse at your clinic!  I have a fantastic one also!  I tell him what I need, he gets it.  I schedule my own monthly lab draws and he agrees to that date!  It really should be at our convenience and not theirs IMO. Just as long as we do what we are suppose to it should be ok!

I know through this site, that the ole Newton IQ cycler no longer exists!  I thought it to be an awesome machine with very little maintenance, but for whatever reason, it has been replaced or upgraded many times!  Shows you what I know!

Yea it can be aggravating when they mess up your routine!

lmunchkin     

[jeannea]

I have a Baxter cycler but no one told me this. Intersting. Luckily I have a fabulous PD nurse.

[HouseOfDialysis]

Mine is getting delivered to the clinic, and I'll drop off my current one there as soon as the new one is programmed.

[Willis]

Mine is getting delivered to the clinic, and I'll drop off my current one there as soon as the new one is programmed.

You live in SC right? I'm in Huntersville north of Charlotte and my clinic is there too. Where is your clinic?

And if you're ever going to be truckin' by this way up 77 and have time for coffee or (beer!) just drop a PM.

 

[HouseOfDialysis]

Word! I'm in Charleston, on the southeast coast of the State.

I'm considering going to see one of my favorite bands, Volbeat, on Aug 7th in Charlotte.  It could happen!

[Willis]

 

[Jie]

Baxter should have changed their software long times ago. About 2.5 years ago, I asked them to change the program to make the pump a little smarter so that it does not pump unnecessary. The overfill issue is really not that necessary, and the revised manual is a waste of money. It seems that they concern more for the legal liability than anything else.

[Willis]

I just got my new Baxter cycler. The display is different (higher resolution and easier to read) and they added some parameter options but otherwise not much difference. I didn't even have to reprogram the ProCard...plugged it in and just had to confirm the info. Only new thing was that now you have to put in your dry weight as part of the actual prescription program.

In my case, my old machine would get very noisy at times and this one is almost silent. Finally, silence! Ahhh!   

 

[bleija]

  :rant;i dont understand the overfill issue, why would somebody do that, i know if i thnk i have overfilled due to cath draining issues, i usually bypass bc i am so completely uncomfortable. i have called my nurse before, and luckily he is an awesome nurse. he trusts my judgement on bypassing.  but then it really makes u uncomfortable. it just doesnt make sense to me. i know some of the new machine will absolutely will not let u bypass the intial drain. if u dnt have ur drain alarm amount met, u pretty much have to disconnect and hook up a manual just to meet the limit. its a waste of a manuel. i dnt know i just dnt understand why anybody would want to overfill themselves

[Joe]

bleija, I do CCPD also, but I have an afternoon manual fill that I'm supposed to accomplish. As such, my cycler is set up to do an initial drain of 1400 before it will go into it's normal cycle. There have been a couple of instances where I have not been able to get my initial fill done in the afternoon, and consequently connected to the cycler dry. It still wants an initial drain, and you're correct that you can't bypass that. But I wait until it alarms and then I can scroll through the menu and bypass the initial drain and move on.
HTH

[bleija]

i set my initial drain alarm to 0 and my nurse knows it too lol

[Joe]

I've been tempted to do that, but it is really rare that I miss my afternoon fill (in fact, I'm doing that right now). I'm hoping with my next adequacy test I can do away with it and just have the nightly cycler session. Keeping my fingers crossed.