Patient Stories: Carol Keller
The comforts of home, treatment times that fit her work schedule, getting lots of dialysis, feeling good. For all these reasons, Carol Keller chose home hemodialysis. "It's a totally different experience than in-center dialysis," says Carol. "I would recommend it to anyone!"
Finding a way
Diagnosed with kidney disease at age 12, Carol (now 43) has faced the prospect of dialysis for a long time. "My doctors told me to learn everything I could about dialysis," says Carol. "Once I did, I knew that I wanted to do my dialysis at home."
When her second transplant failed in 1996, Carol started planning for home dialysis. First, she had to find a center that would accept and train a home patient. The closest one she could find was a 2-hour drive from her home in Omaha, Nebraska. So, Carol took time off from her job and spent 2 months commuting to Sioux City, Iowa, 3 days a week for training and dialysis treatments. "It was inconvenient," admits Carol, "but now I will never have to take another day off of work because of dialysis."
In the 7 1/2 years since she began home dialysis, Carol has been under the care of 3 different dialysis centers. Only her current center, DaVita Dialysis at Clarkson Kidney Center, is in her hometown, less than 1 mile from her home. "I only need to travel to the center a few times a year," says Carol. Technicians from the center make house calls if her Fresenius 2008H machine needs servicing.
Training and set-up
"Doing your own dialysis is kind of scary when you start," says Carol, "but once you're trained, it's easy." To help herself remember all the steps during her first few months, Carol designed process flow charts and checklists. She also had home visits from a home health care nurse. Now, Carol is completely comfortable with the dialysis procedure. "My mother is usually home when I have dialysis," says Carol. She really helps by bringing me crushed ice and snacks!" Carol feels able to handle any emergency, and can even fix some technical problems with her machine.
Comfortable and customized
For Carol, the benefits of home dialysis make all the effort worthwhile. "Everything about my dialysis is set up just for me," says Carol. She has her machine in a spare bedroom on the 2nd floor of the house, used just for dialysis. She has a cordless phone, a TV with VCR and DVD player, and a computer next to her dialysis machine that she can use during treatments. "I can talk on the phone, pay bills, watch TV or a movie, work, have friends over to visit, do whatever I want while I dialyze."
"I don't use a dialysis chair; I have a king-sized bed with lots of pillows and blankets," says Carol. "I can sit, lie down, and move around so my back doesn't get stiff. I can set the room temperature just right, and I can order the masks I like, the gloves I like, and a customized acid concentration. It's all set up just for me!
Carol does her dialysis 4-5 times a week. Because she works full-time as a health care administrator for the Department of Veterans Affairs, she dialyzes in the evening. "Start to finish, it takes about 6 1/2 hours for set-up, 5 hours of treatment, and clean-up." A night owl, Carol doesn't mind staying up late at night to do her dialysis and watch favorite late night TV shows.
Having 4-5 hour treatments 4 times a week gives Carol lots (18-22 hours) of dialysis each week. As a result, she feels good, and has no diet and fluid limits. "It makes my life more normal," she says. She can go out to eat and loves to cook for friends at home, too.
Life choices
"I have been taking care of myself for 32 years," Carol says, "and along the way I have made choices that made it possible for me to have a good life." What choices? A good education. A desk job that is not physically strenuous and provides good health insurance and other benefits. A dialysis modality that permits her to work full time, and even travel. "The choices I've made let me be in charge of my life."