Contributors to Dialysis from the Sharp End of the Needle

 

BILL PECKHAM, Publisher, Editor, Writer (recent Articles) (Vitae) (A brief narrative) (Video) (Biography Project) (Contact) (KidneyTalk #1) (KidneyTalk #2) (KidneyTalk #3): On hemodialysis since September 1990 (incenter 11 years; home since September 2001). Recurring FSGS. Self dialyze at home, alone, frequently overnight (7.5 - 8 hour treatments) using the NxStage System One.

ANNA BENNETT, Editor, Writer (Blog) (Articles) (Contact): Second generation PKD; in-center dialysis 1/07 - 10/07; Solo NxStage 10/07 - 11/08 (Training Diary); Deceased Donor transplant 11/08 (First Week).

PETER LAIRD, MD, Writer (Blog) (Articles) (Contact) (KidneyTalk): Internal Medicine physician diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy in 1998 and commenced incenter hemodialysis via left brachiocephalic fistula February 2007.  Currently using NxStage home dialysis.

MIRIAM LIPPEL BLUM, Writer (Articles), (Contact): is a freelance writer and poet in Arizona. She has lived with Type I diabetes since age 10 and has been a dialyzor since age 34.  She has 15 years of dialysis experience - six on PD, six on in-center hemodialysis, and three years now dialyzing at home 6 days/week using the NxStage System One.

MELISSA DARNLEY, Writer (Articles)(Transplant story): Lives in Australia with husband Andy, dialyzed at home, overnight until October 2008 when she received one of Andy's kidneys.

RICH BERKOWITZ, Writer (Articles) (Contact): Lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and political activist was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma in 1998 and started in-center hemodialysis February 2003. Since early 2006, he has dialyzed at home with NxStage. He has been doing nocturnal since June 2007.

KAMAL D SHAH, Writer (Blog) (Articles) (Contact): Lives in India. 33 years old. Kidney disease since July 1997. In center hemo, unsuccessful transplant, 6 years with PD and now nocturnal home hemo with a Fresenius 4008S six nights a week, 7 hours each night.

TRACY KAPLY, Writer (Blog)

JIM SMITH, Writer (Articles) (Contact):

DAVID L ROSENBLOOM, Writer (Website) (Bio) (Becoming Me (Amazon)) (Articles) (Contact): diagnosed with CKD5 in May 2002; went immediately into dialysis (hemo in-clinic 3 times/wk.); switched to HHD in early 2006 (using a Fresenius 2008H - 4 times/wk for 8 mths.- and then NxStage System One -  6 times/week for 2 1/2 years); transplanted at USC in August 2008.

DSEN was conceived to give a first hand voice to CKD, dialysis (PD, Incenter, Home, Nocturnal), transplant, caregivers and people who work in the industry.  We encourage guest writers.  Please feel free to contact Bill if you would like to write something for DSEN.

Comments

[Joel Topf]

how do I contact Tracy Kaply?

joel topf

[Kitty Abraham]

Dear site owner
We are interested to increase traffic to your website, please get back to us in order to discuss the possibility in further detail.Thanks

[Sheila Dineen]

Hello..I am an old friend of Vidal Alcolea's from Torontoand I have just today discovered his blog on his dialysis. Is there an archive of his blogs? Can I get a message to him with my contact info through your site here?My name is Sheila Dineen and I can be reached at gilligan.joy @shaw.ca Thank you and I hope Vidal is much better now.

[Nathan Kyle]

We are interested to increase traffic to your website, please get back to us in order to discuss the possibility in further detail.

[Judith Yarrow]

Dear Bill,
I have been on HD for 3 years and like to travel. So far I have received dialysis in 5 different countries.
My doctor has been encouraging me to start a blog because he thinks my experiences are unique. After seeing your travel list I realized that my experiences are not unique.
I now want to like to consider traveling within the states. Unfortunately, I have had several really bad experiences so I am reluctant to do so. I am looking for information that will tell me more than just the morbidity rate and clearances for a specific unit. Is there any information out there that will provide me with more in depth descriptions of units within the states.

[Bill Peckham]

Hi Judith

It's hard to tell what a unit is like from a distance. Even the same unit can change from shift to shift because so much of the experience depends on the people, the staff.

That said, my provider Northwest Kidney Centers provides some good info. Both information from the federal government http://nwkidney.org/nkc/aboutUs/quality/federal.html and the results of patient surveys http://nwkidney.org/nkc/aboutUs/quality/2010_Patient_Survey.html unfortunately Northwest Kidney Centers is an exception (a singular exception as far as I know).

Those federal reports, the Dialysis Facility Reports, are produced for each unit but it is up to the unit to make them public. You could try asking a unit you're interested in visiting if they would provide you with their DFR but most likely staff at the units don't even know they exist.