It's Official. Six Days a Week Dialysis in January

[Stacy Without An E]

I've been having such a hard time on days before my evening treatments that I decided to start six days a week treatment on Monday, January 7th.  I'm going to start working out for at least an hour after treatment Monday thru Thursday so I'm pretty excited about that as well.  It's such a Jekyll and Hyde scenario when it comes to how I feel on off days that I'm really looking forward to it.

And if it's too much for me, they said I can always change back to three days a week.  These will be two hour sessions now.  Which means I'll have to up my Netflix account to five at a time

[Bajanne]

That is so interesting!  PLEASE!  Keep us posted on how it goes when you start.

[Rerun]

These will be two hour sessions now.  Which means I'll have to up my Netflix account to five at a time

    

I get really mad when I forget to mail back a movie because it messes up my sequence. 

Great Stacy!  Is this in center?  I know the shorter daily sessions make sense.  Are you going to do button hole so your arm doesn't get stabbed too much?

[Wattle]

   Good luck Stacy. It's worth a try.

[Joe Paul]

Congratulations  I hope it works out for you

[SheilaW]

Good luck!  Please keep us updated!

[Ang]

good  luck  with  it all

[Bill Peckham]

Best of luck. I want to hear details ... all the details.

[2_DallasCowboys]

Best of luck with this, please keep
everyone updated on how it is going.

Anne

[Amanda From OZ]

Best of luck stacey.

[Aldente]

Good luck with your new schedule.  I'm glad you were able to get it.

As a NxStage user I am on a six day schedule and my general feeling of wellbeing, levels of energy and appetite improved dramatically after a little more than one week of treatments.

I'm interested in knowing how your schedule will be billed?  I was told that three days of in-center treatment was all that Medicare would reimburse.  Also, when you sit in a chair on any other day, that is one less patient the center is able to provide services for.  This is generally not a dialysis center decision but is dictated by state health boards.  So far from what I've seen, every state is different.

[paddbear0000]

Good luck!

[Joe Paul]

Just wondering where you been?

[Neo]

congrats! Ive never heard of in center that let's you dialyze that much. You should feel better.. Good luck

[jbeany]

Good luck with your new schedule.  I'm glad you were able to get it.

As a NxStage user I am on a six day schedule and my general feeling of wellbeing, levels of energy and appetite improved dramatically after a little more than one week of treatments.

I'm interested in knowing how your schedule will be billed?  I was told that three days of in-center treatment was all that Medicare would reimburse.  Also, when you sit in a chair on any other day, that is one less patient the center is able to provide services for.  This is generally not a dialysis center decision but is dictated by state health boards.  So far from what I've seen, every state is different.

Maybe the centers are figuring out how much better most patients feel on 5 or 6 day a week treatments, and are actually paying attention to quality of life issues for a change!

I hope it works well for you, Stacy!

[Stacy Without An E]

As the countdown begins to six days a week Dialysis, I started to wonder how my insurance would deal with this.  Would I have more out of pocket expense?  Would Medicare start failing to pay?

Turns out, since my center is non-profit, Medicare will pay for four days and the two other days will be eaten by the center.  I'm astonished, but other patients on six days haven't had any problems.

Some nights the pain is really bad in my arm and it burns the whole time, so I'm hoping I"ll be strong enough to endure twelve more needle sticks a week.

Then again, I've made it this far and I'm kicking Dialysis' ass.

[Black]

... Some nights the pain is really bad in my arm and it burns the whole time, so I'm hoping I"ll be strong enough to endure twelve more needle sticks a week. ...

Can you get buttonholes?

[meadowlandsnj]

I've been having such a hard time on days before my evening treatments that I decided to start six days a week treatment on Monday, January 7th.  I'm going to start working out for at least an hour after treatment Monday thru Thursday so I'm pretty excited about that as well.  It's such a Jekyll and Hyde scenario when it comes to how I feel on off days that I'm really looking forward to it.

And if it's too much for me, they said I can always change back to three days a week.  These will be two hour sessions now.  Which means I'll have to up my Netflix account to five at a time

I hope you do well on it!  I'd do it also if it was available for me.  It's like going to a job, right?  That's how I look at it.

Donna

[Stacy Without An E]

So I"m coming up on Day 4 of this whole Six Day a Week Dialysis dealey and I thought I would share a quick review:

It's fan-frickin-tastic.

I have felt better than I have in four years.  The only trouble I'm having now is I'm so coherent and energized afterward I have trouble falling asleep.  And my vision seems to be blacking out a little more than usual.

The most important aspect of my life right now is putting on a good radio show and I sound five years younger.  I'm energized and my goofy side is able to shine again.

And after each treatment I go work out.  I promised myself if I felt better I'd rededicate myself to getting in shape so I'm really happy about that too.

For the quality of life for Dialysis paitients to improve I believe we should all be given the chance to be treated this often.  You'd think the insurance companies would go for it since in the long run we'd have less health problems and thus, lower health costs.

Thanks for listening and Godspeed.

[Deanne]

That's awesome! It was sure a fast change -- just four days and it sounds like you're bouncing all over the place. You even changed your avatar! Lookin' good!

[kellyt]

That's great news!  And very interesting.  Thanks and Good Luck!

Can your radio show be heard over the internet?  If so, how and when?

[Stacy Without An E]

I only recommend listening if you're desperate for entertainment...and love country music because that's our format.

My on-air name is "Splash" from 2-7pm PST.

Orr website is www.froggy929.com and you can listen online.

And yes, I do talk about Dialysis on-air from time to time.  But management hates it and I've had meetings regarding it.

Take care.

[Sara]

Hi Stacy, I'm glad it seems to be working well for you.  Joe did 6 days/wk dialysis too.  Insurance was never a problem.  I do hope that if you're not doing it already, that you really push for buttonhole.  Our center was VERY un-helpful and un-supportive regarding this and never even brought up the option to Joe.

[Bill Peckham]

Wait 'til you don't have the weekend bloat - I think next week you'll feel even better.

And way to keep up the blog too - can you bring a laptop to dialysis?

Maybe instead of on your show, use your contacts to be the interviewee about dialysis and the dose restriction ingrained in Medicare on someone else's show. World Kidney Day is the second Thursday of March - could be a good day to do interviews.

[jbeany]

That's wonderful, Stac!  I'm with Bill - the weekends on a regular clinic schedule always made me miserable - that toxin headache combined with the full-body puffiness is something I will never miss!  Glad you are feeling the difference so soon!