Nxstage.com A great company doing great things, check it out. Portable Dialysis.

[Epoman]

Epo in the stomach, well that kills your argument about saving your other arm for futrue access. (Nice Try) 

I don't care what you say or feel.  We are NOT changing the name of this site!   

Oh HELL no, I STILL hate dialysis, but I love NxStage. This site will ALWAYS be here even after I am dead! 

[Epoman]

Day Number 9

Thursday, day number 9. Today we found out what my last day of training will be, it will be next Thursday the 27th of July, then the next day on Friday the training nurses will come over to my house and watch over us as we do our first day at home. I was hoping I would be done sooner but I suppose 14 days of training isn't to bad. Again today like yesterday I had trouble sticking the Arterial buttonhole site, it's the strangest thing, I go through the skin NO problem, but when I get to the vein, I can't pierce it, I tried using force but it really scares me. I tried and tried, but I finally just said give me a sharp. I used the sharp and it went right in. When I pulled out the buttonhole needle so I could use the sharp, it didn't even bleed. It's amazing how tough the fistula vein is, I could feel it just pushing the vein and not piercing it. I had no pain while I was trying to get it in, but like i said I gave up and just used a sharp. These kinds of problems are common though. My Venous buttonhole went right in, no problem. So we will see tomorrow.

The NxStage rep came and saw me today and he spent time with me talking and we just discussed the new Dialysate maker machine coming out and we talked about this site. He really is a great guy, the kind of guy you can tell is genuinely concerned about the person and not just the profit margin. I spoke to him about a new site I am making, but I can't say what right now. We had a nice chat.

Again today I ran at 480 pump speed and removed again very little. My run time was 2:22 which is great, the time flies. I can only imagine how fast it will go by when I am home. And like I told you I hate getting up so early and getting there in the morning, I don't know how people train for 4,5, or 6+ weeks. But It is worth it. The nurse went over the procedures with my wife and I, to make sure we really know it, we went over things like "put on", "take off", "manual rinse back", "temporary power failure", etc. Also today I had to go for a Chest X-ray and Bone density test, per Kaisers protocol. I thought the bone test was senseless, since I know my bones are bad, but I felt better afterward when the x-ray tech said my hip pins look fine, and when I told her I have had them in for 5+ years, she was shocked, she said they looked great. The bones in my legs looked really hollow but I was relieved to see that my upper area bones like, collar and shoulders looked good, lots of mass, they looked white compared to the ghostly image of my lower body. But I am glad about my upper body bones being less damaged.

Today I tried the Epogen shot in the arm like I talked about in day number 8, there was no pain, I just pinched the fat of my arm and I didn't feel a thing. So now I feel stupid making a big fuss about not getting it in the arm in the first place however like I mentioned before the last time I got a Epogen shot in the arm was YEARS ago, and man have things changed. But in case I want to go back to getting it the lines I can, so that is good. So I may have helped a future patient who does not want it in their arm, now they can get it in the lines.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[angieskidney]

Epo in the stomach, well that kills your argument about saving your other arm for futrue access. (Nice Try) 

I don't care what you say or feel.  We are NOT changing the name of this site!   

Oh HELL no, I STILL hate dialysis, but I love NxStage. This site will ALWAYS be here even after I am dead! 

I am so ooooo glad about that!! Especially after that scare you gave me Epo!! Man I am still not used to your sense of humour

[charee]

I"m jealous its not yet available in Australia !

Charee

[Epoman]

I"m jealous its not yet available in Australia !

Charee

For now learn all you can about it so when it does come you will be ready. Check out my new site: http://ilovenxstage.com

[Panda_9]

I wiiiiiiissshhh it was in Australia. Why the hell isnt it?!?!?! And who can we hassle about getting it here? We are in drought here, and it doesnt look like letting up any time soon. They are talking about recycling sewerage water which would also be safe to use for dialysis. Im not against recycling, but why cant we get the NXStage here, surely it would save tons of water!

[angieskidney]

I wiiiiiiissshhh it was in Australia. Why the hell isnt it?!?!?! And who can we hassle about getting it here? We are in drought here, and it doesnt look like letting up any time soon. They are talking about recycling sewerage water which would also be safe to use for dialysis. Im not against recycling, but why cant we get the NXStage here, surely it would save tons of water!

 

Don't worry .. it is not available in my area either yet and I live in Canada

I wiiiiiiissshhh it was in Australia. Why the hell isnt it?!?!?! And who can we hassle about getting it here? We are in drought here, and it doesnt look like letting up any time soon. They are talking about recycling sewerage water which would also be safe to use for dialysis. Im not against recycling, but why cant we get the NXStage here, surely it would save tons of water!

 

Is there anyone you can suggest that too? Maybe get the ball rolling there?

[Epoman]

Day Number 10

Day 10, end of the second week. Man I can't wait to get home. We got there again about 7:30am California traffic is a killer. I weighed myself and we started doing our thing but we hit a snag, my wife forget to enter the "numbers" after the 18 minute priming. The numbers is basically how much my goal is going to be and the rate. We missed that step and when you do things out of order it can mess things up. One of the nurses tried to save the day, so she "tricked" the machine. Tricking involves turning off the machine and opening the front and pull out the cartridge. The restart. Well that didn't work and we got an error she never even heard of "601" that error is not even in the manual. So instead of calling tech support right then and there, she decided to just start completely over.  So that means we would have to wait another 18 minutes while the machine primed again. Good thing the nurse told me on the first day don't stick your needles until the machine is all ready to go. Today I was glad I listened. Anyway finally when the machine was all ready and I stuck my needles. Like always the venous buttonhole went in the first time, slid right in. I was now going to do the Arterial and remember the last two times I had to use a "sharp" because I could not get the arterial buttonhole in, well today I decided to go at a different angle and the blunt needle slid right in. I was so relieved. Plus I had read the night before that the two buttonholes develop differently. So after the "little" mistake my wife did, I felt better when I got BOTH of my blunts in.

The training nurse called nxstage and we went over my delivery schedule. The lady from nxstage informed me of some common sense rules but she also discussed shipping of supplies and stated that they will ship anywhere in the USA, BUT only the 48 contiguous states meaning not Alaska and Hawaii. I would be responsible for all shipping to those two states and anywhere else in the world. She also stated that if my machine were to break, they would send a replacement within 24 hours however if I am outside of the USA I am basically on my own. But I guess that's ok, I have no plans to travel outside of the USA. She also mentioned that I should keep the supplies in the original box in case my prescription changes and I have to return some supplies. She said the delivery person will put the boxes inside my house for me and If I ever have any problems with the driver, to inform nxstage immediately.

For the first time today, after 2 weeks on the machine I actually cramped, I tried to push my dry weight because of the two day weekend. So I had to get 2 100cc's of saline. My blood pressure went down to 90/69 which is nothing compared to when I try to take off 4kilos in-center and my pressure would drop to 50/30, seriously, yeah I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth. But over all I really felt fine at the end. Today I ran for about 2:20 and a flow of 480 and my goal was 1.8kilos but that included taking me down 500cc's below my dry weight.

So it looks like I have 4 days of training at Kaiser then the 5th day I will be at home. I can't wait to make those videos and take more pictures for my new site http://ilovenxstage.com did I mention that already? but it is online now so check it out at the link.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[Epoman]

Day Number 11

Week number 3 FINAL week, day number 11 down. I ran at 480 flow, I gained 2.8kilos over the weekend, however we decided to just take of 2.0kilos and make up the rest tomorrow, that is the beauty of daily dialysis. My buttonholes are really developing great, It's actually kind of scary to be honest, when I take off the scab, I now see a hole, literally. I asked the nurse if my "holes" looked normal and she said yes, I believe her but it really is weird. But I guess I shouldn't be to worried since the buttonhole technique has been around for a long time. But again I can't express in words how nice it feels not having to worry about finding a new spot to stick. I really didn't feel to well this morning going to dialysis, doing daily it really is hard when you have to go 2 days over the weekend with no treatment. The good thing is, I will not have to go 2 days in a row with no dialysis when I am done with my training, in fact this last weekend was hopefully the last time I will have to go 2 days in a row, man I can't wait to be home! We didn't going over to much stuff today as I was really tired and fell asleep. I asked the nurse if we could draw my TSH so I have a result before I leave, since the next labs that I will have will be 1 month after leave at the end of this week. I ran a total of 2:22 today. The treatment today went smooth, no problems. The biggest problem I see with this machine is facing the reality that something could go wrong and I could end up back in-center and after seeing the benefits of this machine, having to go back in center would be a emotional tragedy.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[goofynina]

Be Positive Boss,  Everything is going to come out smooth sailing,  i know i think alot about "what if" i have to go back to hemo,   hey, if they day comes, it comes, nothing i can do about it, i just know i am going to enjoy this PD and my freedom as long as i can, Live for today my friend, for tomorrow may never come..... your gonna be aaaaaaall right

[Rerun]

My friend who has been on home hemo for 20 years dreads when she has to go incenter for any reason too.  But, it does happen once in a while.  Keeps you from taking home hemo for granted!     Don't worry about it though. 

Maybe you could network with other NxStage users and if your machine goes down you could go use theirs??  Not sure if that is possible?

[Epoman]

Day Number 12

Oh man, almost done, I can't wait. Today the NxStage "Nurse" came by, we talked and of course I mentioned my sites, but the great news we discussed was my KT/V Normally in-center I get 1.3 to 1.4 Kt/V now I won't get into the technical side of what the numbers mean but basically with me being on a 18 liter of solution a day, I am getting the same amount of clearance of in-center or VERY close to it, well the NxStage nurse told me I could run just 5 days and get the same KT/V if I just increased the liters to 20 from 18. In doing that I would have to stay on the machine for 12 minutes longer per session BUT I would save a whole day and only have to do dialysis 5 days a week instead of 6. Currently I only run 2 hours and 20-25 minutes, so even if I add another 12 minutes, I will still be under 2:45. But we will see how I feel, I may just do 6 after all, but I do like the fact of only having to do 5. BUT I will NEVER go 2 days off in a row, that is one of things I dislike about my training, I don't get dialysis on the weekend but I only had to do that for 2 weekends. This upcoming weekend I will be home.

I had to watch a video today on injecting my Epogen. I watched the video, but it is nothing I already didn't know. Then the Pharmacist came in and went over the instructions on how to inject it, and draw it properly. So after dialysis I got my little $250 bottle of Epogen, and drew some of this "liguid gold" into my syringe and stuck the needle in my stomach and it was very simple and painless. I call it Epogen but it is actually Procrit, Epogen and Procrit are just the brand names. The drug is actually Erythropoietin. But what ever as long as it works.

Today again, I ran at 480 blood flow and ran again about 2:25 my goal was only 1.9kilos, but remember I had left .8 over on Monday instead of trying to take off a lot of fluid on Monday, so I just made it up today. Again my buttonholes went right in and I had no problems. I do notice that when I pick the scabs off of my buttonholes, clear stuff comes out, for the more technically inclined the clear stuff is actually "Serum" which is basically the liquid portion of blood, with clotting factors removed. The nurses say it's normal. They say as long as it's not colored, clear is normal.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[Epoman]

Day Number 13

Today was a not so great a day, I could not get the Arterial buttonhole in, so I had to use a sharp, plus my heart rate was in the 120+ range. And I didn't feel to great during treatment. I was upset because I worry about my fistula so much and when I can't use the buttonhole needle I get worried. I hate the fact that I may have to end up going back in center. The last few weeks have been like a vacation not having to go to Duh-vita or take the Dial-a-ride to Davita. And I NEVER want to go back. Tomorrow is my last day of training and I will be taking the machine home tomorrow. My wife got the day off for tomorrow. As I mentioned before the training nurses will come to our house on Friday to watch us do our first home session.

The doctor came by today and I asked her several questions, one of them being why can't I buy a centrifuge and spin my own blood and take it to kaiser instead of having to go to the lab once a month and have them stick my good arm and possibly ruin my veins for any future access I may need. She said she though we did draw our own blood, the nurse told her we only draw pre and post since that does not need to be "Spun" with a centrifuge. But our other labs need to be spun, so that is why we have to go in for labs. She said Kaiser can't afford to give out a centrifuge to every home patient. So I told her what if I buy my own? She acted like that might be a viable solution. We discussed it further and she will talk to the lab department and she what is needed to draw labs at home. So hopefully she will find out what is needed and I will see if I can afford it.

I also talked to the doctor about what the NxStage nurse said, about running 20 liters instead of 18 liters and only have to run 5 days instead of 6 (as I explained in day 12) She explained to me that Kt/V is just a measurement and she rather go by how I actually feel, I told her I felt great on 5 days week since I have only been doing 5 days a week during my training. She told me my Kt/V was fine and it is up to me if I wanted to only run 5 days a week, however she will write the orders for 5 or 6 days, so I will have enough supplies if I choose to run 6. She also didn't think it was necessary to run 20 liters of dialysate solution as the NxStage nurse recommended. That she felt going from 18 to 20 liters, I wouldn't see much difference, but she did say, she thinks I would feel even better if I ran 6 days. But she left it up to me. She did say I do need at least 5 days a week. Which is not a problem to me at all.

I also told the nurse how worried I was about having to back in-center possibly, and how I heard her tell the nxstage nurse yesterday how they do not send chest cath patients home with the nxstage. I brought up the chest cath because if something happens to my fistula, more than likely I would need a chest cath. She said they do not like to send patients home with a chest cath, but in my situation they would make an exception. So either she is just being nice and trying to help me not worry or she is being honest. I think she is being honest and it did make me feel better. Hopefully I won't have to find out.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[Panda_9]

Epoman you are being way too hard on yourself! I know it wouldnt help given that you only have a short time to do the training. Dont worry if you cant get a blunt in, it does happen a few times in the early stages. 6 months later and I have had to use the odd sharp, and because my fistula has moved, I have had to alter the insertion angle. It can be frustrating, but just persist and dont get yourself into too much of a tizzy. I think every home patient worries about going back in centre, its pretty normal here. I have been back in a couple of times, but you eventually get back home, and you will probly appreciate the rest.

[angieskidney]

I worry about when I will do buttonhole because I have troubles with my fistula (it is still new but also very "snakey" and rolls a lot as well) but am surprised that you worry so much. You seem to be such an informed person that sometimes I forget that you just like the rest of us. I hope things get better for you. I have a high pulse too and I don't know if it is because the heart and fustula don't want to share all that blood (I read that somewhere) but worry can't help your pulse at all. Good luck with it all. And I hope the nurses keep cooperating with you!

[Epoman]

Day Number 14

HOME SWEET HOME! My training is OVER, well except for a home visit tomorrow so they can watch me do in-home the first time. Today was PERFECT, no mistakes, well except that my wife forgot the second step, which is to turn the machine on. I was to busy talking to the training nurse to notice, but we caught it before it was to late and have to start over again. But other than that, my "blunts" went in perfect, BOTH of them, my pressure was great, I only had to remove .8 kilo, can you believe it, today was a good day. So after I got on, about 2 minutes into the treatment, alarm "24" came on which tells me it's an arterial pressure problem. Well like we were trained, always check the patient first, I was fine. The weird thing was my arterial and venous pressures were great. So we decided to see if it would alarm again, and it did, so I re-positioned the needle a little and all was well. That was the only alarm of the day, in fact I didn't get very many alarms throughout the course of my training.

The nurse had my wife and I do a FINAL EXAM which was created by NxStage, however it is VERY easy and is even open book. We answered all of the questions and before we were through the NxStage rep, came by to visit me once more before I go home. We talked and I bugged him again for the acute stand, the acute stand is the official stand that NxStage uses for acute dialysis only, but I really wish I could get one. But if I can't then I can have my dad make me one, he is very good with making things like that. I also told the rep that I would love to be a "NxStage Patient Liaison" and told him how much I love this company and how It would be a dream come true to be part of such a wonderful company. I even joked around and told him how many NxStage patients run a "fan" site like www.ilovenxstage.com. But anyway I would just love to be earning a living once again and be a productive member of society, instead of relying on Social Security Disability to help support my family. But hey I can dream can't I?

So after we all talked and the NxStage rep had to leave, we finished the final exam, we passed and that was it. We just talked some more went over some more procedures, then it was time to be taken off, about 10 minutes before my take off time, my wife went down to get my Epogen from the pharmacy, while she was down their she called me and told me the syringes are not covered, well the Pharmacy doctor had told me there would be NO charge for the epogen, he said it is part of my dialysis, I guess he forgot to mention about the syringes, but it's OK, I see they gave me a 30 pack for a co-pay of under $5.00, well those 30 will last me just shy of 4 months, so a little over $15 a year for syringes is a small price to pay to be home. And besides the training nurse gave me a pack as well, as part of the supplies I need to have in my house. As I mentioned earlier I will be injecting the epogen instead of putting it in the lines like originally planned, but since it absorbs better I will only need 2 shots a week instead of 3 times a week if I put it in my lines after dialysis. There really is no pain. The needle is to small.

So when my wife came back up from the pharmacy, she took me off like there was a power failure or some other good reason to, she did a manual rinse back, so we would know what to do in case we ever did to it. The we disassembled the machine and broke it down in to 3 pieces, first piece being the machine itself and second the dialysate warmer and third the IV pole. We put it in the box, and just for the record, the machine weighs 75 pounds but bare in mind that is DEAD weight, so that bad boy is heavy, but just to clarify before the NxStage people read this and get upset with me, My wife who is 4'10" can lift it by herself with the handles, but when it is in the box, it is to awkward. But anyway the nurse called a male nurse over to help us get it in the car via a hand-truck. We got it in, all of the pieces and honestly I felt a big sigh of relief come over me and I told my wife, "I never thought something like this would happen to me." We told the nurse thank you and told the training nurse we would see her tomorrow at 7:00am for my first home treatment.

On our way home, we were hurrying because I was expecting my NxStage supplies today to be delivered to my house, it was almost 12:30 and they had told me the driver would be there between 1:00 and 3:00pm so we we were almost home when my neighbor called and told me a driver is here to deliver some supplies, we told him to tell the driver we are almost home to please wait, I wasn't to worried because the training nurse gave me supplies to do a treatment tomorrow in case the driver didn't show up. We finally got home about 1:25pm. The driver told my wife he had been waiting for an hour for us. We apologized for being late and did what all Californians do when they are late, blame the traffic. But he put our boxes in front of our garage for us, I'm sure he would have put them inside for us, but I didn't want to hold him up any longer so her stacked the 3 weeks worth of supplies, which is basically 36 dialysate solution boxes, 3 boxes of Cartridges, and a box or Waste lines. I only got 3 weeks this month but from now on all future delivery's will be a months worth. And honestly, 3 weeks worth of supplies does not take up that much room. I will be putting a thermometer in the garage to make sure it does not get to hot, but I think it stays cool inside the garage. Our plan is every Sunday my wife and I will be bringing in to the house a weeks worth of supplies.

Now I'm off to set everything up and get ready for my first home treatment tomarrow.

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

[Bajanne]

Way to go, Epoman!!!!  I am at the edge of my seat, waiting to hear what it is going to be like at home.  You guys are doing marvellously!

[Rerun]

I'm glad you are home, but other than that, I'm not sure of the benefit over the other home hemo machines.  Space?  Sounds like you have just as many supplies.

6 days a week for 2 hours and 25 minutes?  or 5 days a week for 2 hours and 45 minutes?  That is a LOT of time on a machine! 

I guess the benefits are being at home and... being at home.  Plus you say you feel better.  I guess I would feel better if I stuffed one more day a week on the machine too, but I'm not doing it.   

[Panda_9]

I worry about when I will do buttonhole because I have troubles with my fistula (it is still new but also very "snakey" and rolls a lot as well) but am surprised that you worry so much. You seem to be such an informed person that sometimes I forget that you just like the rest of us. I hope things get better for you. I have a high pulse too and I don't know if it is because the heart and fistula don't want to share all that blood (I read that somewhere) but worry can't help your pulse at all. Good luck with it all. And I hope the nurses keep cooperating with you!

Angie, my fistula is snakey as well, and it moves around. If you start having problems with a buttonhole, you can just make another one in a better spot. I have had to move mine around a few times. I am now back to using the 2 original buttonholes. I also have a high heart rate, which Ive had since I first started getting rejection, but no one can tell me why. It has settled down a lot now and I think it usually hangs around 80-110 resting. Occasionally I have noticed it lower than that, but to be honest I don't really take notice of it. I mentioned it to the doctor yesterday (they actually did rounds at the home in-centre!), and she mentioned something about the high blood flow in my fistula. I think she also said something about a HR monitor, but as usual they don't talk to you directly, so I didn't hear what she said. I'll soon find out.

Epoman, I think you have done very well to get this far in so little time. You sound confident so you will be fine. Try not to stress, as its not good for the heart rate and it can cause clotting when cannulating I'm told. If you find yourself stressing, just take a breather for a minute, take some deep breaths, and try again.

[Epoman]

I'm glad you are home, but other than that, I'm not sure of the benefit over the other home hemo machines.  Space?  Sounds like you have just as many supplies.

6 days a week for 2 hours and 25 minutes?  or 5 days a week for 2 hours and 45 minutes?  That is a LOT of time on a machine! 

I guess the benefits are being at home and... being at home.  Plus you say you feel better.  I guess I would feel better if I stuffed one more day a week on the machine too, but I'm not doing it.   

Oh no, I need much less space than "other" home hemo machines. ALOT less supplies and I need no RO system, filters, tanks and all of the other crap you need with conventional home-hemo. It turns out I only need to do 5 or 6 but both times will be under 2:30 hours. I was really worried about the 5 or 6 days a week of hemo, but it really isn't that bad. And being home makes a big difference to me. Plus I love the freedom of dialyzing when ever I want, no more long weekends of fluid build up. I have been sleeping much, much better. I will be posting lots of pics on my site ilovenxstage.com real soon.

[Rerun]

I do like the part of not having weekends.  I use to LOVE them at first when I was still peeing.  Now, I have to restrict my fluid and I still feel like a Watermelon when I go in on Tuesday.  I wish my schedule was Tuesday/Thursday/ Saturday/ Monday/Wednesday/Friday Okay..... I'll just say every other day, no breaks.

[Hephs-little-lady]

Well done Epoman & Epowife. It must feel really good to finally be home! Looking forward to hearing the continuing adventure of nxstage after training!

Good Luck with your first day @ home. 

[Epoman]

Day Number 15 - Done Training

I'm done BABY! OH MY GOD! I could not have asked for a better day! My "blunts" (both) went in PERFECT, I had a great Arterial and Venous pressure, I only removed 1.2kilo, AND I only had to run 2:18 minutes at 480 blood flow. The machine did not alarm once and I mean not once, I think the machine is happy to be home like I am. The nurse came to our house about 7:00am and I took a few minutes to show her my websites and a couple of other things, she was really impressed with the sites. I even showed her my Nephrology News & Issues magazine editorial that I did. Then my wife and I started getting ready, my wife did everything perfectly, flawless. It felt good sitting in my recliner and being able to look out my window and have my TV hanging on the wall. I may have to add a Air conditioner to the room, because it is HOT, the fan helps but it is warm, I did lower the temperature of the dialysate solution and that helped cool down my blood, lol. But honestly this machine is amazing. I watched a little t.v. also the nurse asked my wife some safety questions about what would she did if this or that happened. Today is my Epogen shot, I forgot to take it before the nurse left, I guess she forgot to, oh well I will just inject it later. My blood pressure was a little low after treatment but I felt fine, it was 95/60 that's not to bad. I had asked the training nurse yesterday when was her next nxstage patient coming in for training now that I am done? She said not for a couple of months, I was shocked I asked why, she said she needs to train 6 PD patients, then go on vacation. She is the only one qualified to train people at the Kaiser I go to. I guess it was good I fought to get in as fast as I could. I was there 4th person they trained, and she said I was the fastest trained out of the four, 2 weeks 4 days. I wonder if that is a record, probably not. However I felt I could have gone home after the second week. Now that I am home I took some more pictures and will be doing the videos soon. I am taking tomorrow off to relax and will do a session on Sunday. I look back on the first day and look at how intimidated I was by the setup procedures but know I think it's a piece of cake, my wife and I can set it up in less than 10 minutes, it's too bad we have to wait 18 minutes for it to prime. But we can be setting it up while it's priming. I can see a few improvements that NxStage could make to the machine to make it even better, but I can't complain because like I have said before:

"Before I used to dream of seeing my son graduate high school and I would be content in knowing that I raised him and turned him into a man before my kidney failure finally got the best of me. But then a company like NxStage comes along and gives me hope and the very possibility of seeing my own son become a father himself. NxStage did not invent a new dialysis machine, they found a way to keep a father alive longer for his son."

And I truly mean those words, I tell everybody I meet about this wonderful machine, but in closing, my training went well, Nxstage trained the training nurses well and I feel confident that this machine will allow me to meet my goal of seeing my son off to college.

Finally, I would like to thank the research and development team and ALL of NxStage for all your heart and soul you put into this machine, you could have built yet another dialysis machine like the rest of the industry, but you didn't, you invented HOPE!

- Epoman
12+ years in-center Hemo
Current NxStage USER

Be sure to visit http://ilovenxstage.com/pictures.html to see pictures of my setup.  

[angieskidney]

Be sure to visit http://ilovenxstage.com/pictures.html to see pictures of my setup.  

I must say those are the most impressive and more detailed pics I have seen for NxStage yet. Thank you for posting them on your site

[Epoman]

Be sure to visit http://ilovenxstage.com/pictures.html to see pictures of my setup.  

I must say those are the most impressive and more detailed pics I have seen for NxStage yet. Thank you for posting them on your site

My pleasure.  I hope that site will help people make a decision about nxstage, if it is right for them.