Home dialysis program allows work and travel

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Home dialysis program allows work and travel

Published September 18th, 2008

By Sara Gentry

Southsider Rick Skiles, 55, has suffered from chronic kidney disease for years. In 1997, he planned to get a transplant before starting dialysis, but due to a blood clot, his kidneys suddenly shut down, meaning he needed to start dialysis right away.

Skiles did in-center hemodialysis three days a week for the first six months. He and his wife then decided to try out a type of home dialysis, but water contamination forced them to stop. A problem with his colon prevented use of another type of in-home treatment.

In 2004, Rick learned about an Indiana University study of a new portable home hemodialysis machine. He decided to enroll and became the first patient in Indiana to train on the NxStage System One, which he began in April of that year. “They scheduled the training for 10 weeks,” said Skiles. “But everyone knew how to set up the machine by the third day. It was pretty easy.”

Last month, Clarian Health and the IU School of Medicine hosted a ribbon-cutting and open house for a new Home Dialysis Center on North Meridian. The center will be the first practice of its kind in Indianapolis and the largest of its kind in the state that will exclusively offer treatments and training with home hemodialysis technology, as opposed to conventional hemodialysis which usually takes place in clinics or hospitals.

Skiles has continued to use NxStage, doing dialysis six days a week, two hours a day, for the next four years. The shorter, more frequent treatments allow the machine to mimic a functioning kidney; fluid levels are more stable, and Skiles was able to stop his blood pressure machines within a week of starting NxStage. He also experienced an improvement in his appetite.

One of the benefits Skiles enjoys most is the portability of his treatments. He and his wife vacation often, and before, he’d have to call ahead and schedule time at a clinic. Now, he takes his equipment with him.

“When I traveled on conventional hemodialysis, I had to call ahead and schedule a treatment time in a center,” he said. “They always give you a time in the middle of the day. And then you’re so tired after your treatment that you don’t feel like doing anything. So you lose three days of your vacation.”

Previously, Skiles worked full-time for Gerdt Furniture, but he had to quit when his kidneys failed. He has since started working part-time for a merchandising company. In his spare time, he does small woodworking projects in his shop. “I don’t think I would have been able to do that without this treatment,” he said.

What was the first thing you thought of when you found out about the portable dialysis treatment?
I was anxious to try it out. I was in the first group to try it, so anything that is a change and new, you’ve got some questions about it. But the first thing I saw was how it could make your dialysis and your health better.

How has it changed your outlook?

It gives me control back in my life. Made dialysis easier and more efficient. It has made the traveling that we do a lot easier, because we don’t have to set up a time at a clinic when on vacation. We’ve taken it on an airplane, used it in the hotel room, taken it on a cruise. We’ve vacationed with it at least twice year. In the last four and a half years we’ve probably taken about 10 vacations.
Where were you doing treatments before?

I first went on dialysis with in-center treatments, for the first six months. I was driving to Danville four times a week. After that we trained to go home, and we had a regular dialysis treatment unit put into our home. That required plumbing changes, electrical changes — the whole house had to be fitted to do that machine. With NxStage, we just plug it in.

What happens next in your treatment?

I think my health should be stable. After I started on NxStage, my life has improved, and I expect for it to stay improved. There have been changes with dialysis technology since I’ve been on it, so maybe that can continue. My life is better.

Were you nervous about being one of the first people in the country to use the system?

Nervous probably isn’t the right phrase for it. More like anxious — you know something might change or be new. But it wasn’t a difficult decision. I read and researched it and my education about the machine made it an easy decision and made me feel more confident.

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