Fresenius staff educate on dialysis in celebration of seventh year
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In celebration of year seven at its Small Street location, Fresenius Medical Care opened its doors to the public Monday to educate on kidney dialysis.
Also as part of the celebration the dialysis center will be hosting 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 22 the KidneyMobile bus of the National Kidney Foundation. In the bus anyone can get a free kidney health screening along with checks on blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index, waist circumference, urinalysis, blood draw and a private consultation with a medical professional.
On Monday Fresenius Medical Care had offices open with staff to discuss the different types of dialysis.
Most people think of dialysis as regular trips to the center for a clearing of the fluids stuck in the body, the work normally-functioning kidneys perform. The kidneys also create hormones that keep blood pressure under control and create red blood cells.
Home therapy nurse Donna Mack was showing off instruments of peritoneal dialysis which many dialysis patients find to be the least interruptive.
"It's done at home and there is no blood involved. The body does the dialysis in the abdomen instead of the blood," Mack said.
The dialysis may be done manually with a portable drip four times a day for 15 to 20 minutes each or with a machine that takes 10 hours overnight.
"It's more like their own natural kidneys working," Mack said.
"A lot of times people don't know about it. They know about the people coming to the center."
For people who work full time peritoneal dialysis can fit more easily into their schedules.
Some people need the full dialysis with needles hooked into the arteries and veins, but most dialysis patients can use peritoneal dialysis at home, Mack said.
Home Therapy Nurse Cheryl Humm was discussing conventional dialysis machines in the home.
Family members can help a dialysis patient use the conventional dialysis machines at home three times a week or use the Next Stage machine five to six times a week.
"Daily dialysis is a lot easier on the patient," Humm said.
Nurses at the center notice patients who visit the center three times a week are in a weaker state than those who take the treatment more regularly.
"Their blood pressure goes up and they are filled with fluid," Humm said.
The home dialysis machine treatment take two to three hours as prescribed by a doctor.
Nurses train families on how to insert the needles and use the machines and are on call to help 24 hours a day.
If there is a disaster such as an ice storm knocking out the power, patients who take dialysis at home can come to the center for their treatments. Generators keep the dialyses machines operational in a power outage.
Fresenius TOPS Specialist II Delora Crawford was telling visitors about early kidney disease detection.
People with high blood pressure and diabetes are the most susceptible to kidney disease and may want to take advantage of kidney screenings.
Stage 2 kidney failure involves increased blood pressure and protein in the urine.
Stage 3 involves anemia or early bone disease as there is a loss of calcium in the body.
Stage 4 involves fatigue, swelling, nausea and vomiting.
Stage 5 reaches the point of dialysis.
"Our goal is to try to reach patients at stage 3. We educate, slow the progression here, then prepare. One in seven Americans has kidney disease and they don't even know they have it," Crawford said.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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