What is the longest a patient has survived on dialysis?

[okarol]

What is the longest a patient has survived on dialysis?

Info gathered on the internet August 2008.


•   Ed Strudwick, age 67, has spent nearly 36 years on hemodialysis – it may be a world record. (Oct. 2007) http://www.renalandurologynews.com/The-Hemodialysis-Marathon-Man/article/58020/
•   Brian Tocher has been 40 years on dialysis (interspersed by two transplantations.) (2008) http://www.brian-tocher.bravehost.com/
•   Patricia LeBlack, in her 39th year of continuous kidney dialysis, may be the longest-surviving kidney dialysis patient in the world. (Sept. 2006) http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329581861-103680,00.html
•   Dr. Robin Eady, the longest-surviving dialysis patient in the world, began the treatment in 1963 at age 22 until he received a kidney transplant in 1987. (June 2003) http://www.alexkingsbury.com/2003/06/22/ex-dialysis-patient-honored-for-ideals/
•   Ron Hasegawa - For three decades, since he was 19 years old, he has been on a dialysis machine. (Aug. 2001) http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2001/2001_08_10.hf10.html
•   Vern El Verno Del Congo Best had been on dialysis for 28 years and was Barbados' longest surviving kidney failure patient. He was 69. http://www.nationnews.com/321907336652528.php
•   Bruce Miller, the longest-living dialysis patient in Texas, has been on dialysis for 30 years. (Oct. 2002) http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=50178&SecID=2
•   Ruth Reynolds, a 53-year old dialysis patient, has been undergoing dialysis for 32 years. (Feb. 2007) http://jimmorris.wordpress.com/2007/02/page/2/
•   Lynnette Zimmerman is the longest-surviving dialysis patient in Billings. Twenty-five years is not totally uncommon but a bit unusual. (Jan. 2003) http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2003/01/08/build/health/20-dialysis.inc

And then there's our very own Zach! 

[kitkatz]

I will be at ten years November 2, 2008.

[flip]

There's a lady from Australia who posts on Davita sometimes who has been on 39 years.

[Zach]

And then there's our very own Zach! 

Thank you okarol!
 

[Adam_W]

I heard a rumour of a lady that survived 60 years on dialysis. I seriously doubt it was true, though. If it was, then she would have been one of the first dialysis patients ever.

Adam

[circleNthedrain]

I started hemo in Sept. '79, had two transplants, but now I'm back on hemo. 

[del]

Sometime this month (August 2008) marked hubby's 11th year on dialysis!! And he's hoping for many more!!!!

[kevno]

Longest patient I know is Jill she started one month after me July 1977 she as never even been called for a transplant. I had that 6 year break .
What about the Oldest (apart from Kitkatz and Rerun ) a man on our unit was 90 but he only survived 6 months on haemo.

[kitkatz]

Why thank you Kevno, I had no idea I was OLD! 




Seriously, a lot of people tell you they have been on dialysis twenty years, when they had a transplant for anywhere from 5 to 15 of those years.  Those transplant years do not count as years on dialysis, people!   Yes, it is a treatment, but it is not dialysis.  I always look at years with a rather jaundiced eye.


Zach you are my hero!

[Zach]

Zach you are my hero!

 

[kevno]

Never worked it out like that just the years been on dialysis. which is a total of 25 years. Going on 26 years now. If counting transplant years I have been on dialysis for 31years nearly 32years. Which a transplant is just another kind of treatment according to epoman.

[okarol]

* Ken Sharp celebrated surviving 32 years on dialysis yesterday. Sharp, 52, has been on dialysis since Sept. 6, 1976 - http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=10013.0
* Jill Schofield marks 25 years on dialysis. Jill, 57, began dialysis in 1982. http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=6415.0
* Robert Bryden began PD in 1976, at 19 years of age. http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=2106.0

[petey]

My Marvin has been battling ESRD since March of 1995; however, he hasn't been "on" dialysis that entire time.  He had a three-year-and-three-month reprieve when he had a transplant (July 2000 - October 2003).  If you add up just his time on dialysis (5 years and 6 months the first time and now 4 years and 11 months this last time), he's at 10 years and 5 months currently.  If he doesn't get another transplant (and he's back on that list again!!!), he said he wants to be THE longest surviving dialysis patient.

[okarol]

Alex DiPasquale, a former assistant Monroe County executive, was the subject of the Aug. 9 column. He's been on dialysis for 31 years, and over time, his health has suffered. He's now blind and dealing with other health issues.
Three months ago, Alex described himself as the "happiest man in the world." He still is, I'm pleased to report.
"I am blessed because of the love of my family, my friends and my God," he wrote me this week. "I am so thankful for the joy and happiness they bring to my life each and every day."
(Nov. 2008) http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20081129/NEWS0202/811290343/1002/NEWS

[nursewratchet]

I have 2 long time patients on Hemo.  One has been on for 29 years, and the other for 31.  They are both in pretty decent general health, both working.  Both have fistulas. The 29 year patient is on her 1 and only fistula.  These 2 patients have taught me more thanI ever knew about dialysis... As far as oldest, we have man in the clinic who is 93!!!  He gets a ride, but he walks in and out by himself, never a walker or a wheelchair...Also has a fistula.

[bette1]

I started dialysis November of 1988, I had a 12 year break when I had a transplant, and I have been on dialysis again since 2006.  It's been over 20 years.  Most times it doesn't seem that long, but then there are days...

[okarol]

Ken Sharp, a 52-year-old Peterborough man, has survived dialysis for nearly 33 years. http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=12505.0

[lola]

I need to have Otto reads this, as we are both thinking that with a pra of 100% and them saying he can't do IVIG and Plasmapherisous(sp?) we are trying to adjust to Dialysis for life. As long as he can keep and working he's ok with it

[kitkatz]

Baby, I am stuck there too, dialysis for the rest of my life. *Sigh* But I am along for the ride! 

[monrein]

Ken Sharp, a 52-year-old Peterborough man, has survived dialysis for nearly 33 years. http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=12505.0

Peterborough is a beautiful medium sized town on the way to our cottage.  Lots of lakes to enjoy and my husband sometimes goes to lacrosse matches there. 

[swramsay]

Whenever that question is asked "How long do people survive on dialysis?" my mind automatically goes to "How long do people survive on dialysis before dialysis eventually kills them?"

To clarify in my mind, do most people die BECAUSE of dialysis related issues? Or do they eventually die of something else and still happen to be on dialysis?

I hope I can live a normal life with this treatment. I can understand some physical changes here and there because of dialysis but I hope it doesn't mean they are necessarily life-threatening changes.

?

[kitkatz]

Most doctors will tell you dialysis patients are in a race against heart problems, before anything else.  That is why most of us are taking aspirin and some sort of cholesterol pill, plus BP meds.

[Zach]

To clarify in my mind, do most people die BECAUSE of dialysis related issues? Or do they eventually die of something else and still happen to be on dialysis?

It may depend on how healthy a lifestyle you led before CKD.

[okarol]

Lyria Ramos celebrates 30 years on dialysis http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=12888.0

[okarol]

* Ken Sharp celebrated surviving 32 years on dialysis yesterday. Sharp, 52, has been on dialysis since Sept. 6, 1976 - http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=10013.0

Update - http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=13005.0