Wow, what a great update–thanks, Gus!! I know that the folks who are working on the Daily Dialysis Quality Bill (currently HR1004) were looking for a Senator to sponsor a Senate version as well, and if I’m reading this correctly, they’ve found one!
Within the next day or two, we’ll have an Action Alert to urge folks to contact their legislators to ask them to sponsor HR 1004 and the companion bill, so keep checking back…
Senator John Kerry sponsored daily dialysis legislation in 2001. This bill had two cosponsors. The bill was introduced in the last session of Congress (the 107th). When a session of Congress ends, all bills that have not been acted upon die. They must be reintroduced in the current session (108th).
As Dori said, the daily dialysis bill has been introduced in the House (HR 1004) this session. I looked at Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet (http://thomas.loc.gov/) and did not see that a companion bill had been introduced in the Senate…yet. Although the House is in session, it appears from the Senate calendar that the Senate is not. If the bill is introduced in the Senate, you’ll be able to read about it on our Legislative Action page and on this message board.
Being an election year, we must keep our expectations realistic without losing hope. If the bill isn’t acted on this year, there’s always the next session of Congress that starts in January. Once the election is over our elected officials (whoever they may be) will likely be more focused on legislation rather than on campaigning.
Speaking about NxStage, can anybody direct me to information about how it works and how it’s done?
NxStage has a website (http://www.nxstage.com) but it’s only one page. I don’t believe their machine has been FDA approved yet, but when it is, I expect they’ll let us know since they’re a sponsor of this website. They have not published much about their machine. I know someone who was part of the clinical trial required for FDA approval. She loved the machine. The machine is portable enough to be sent as luggage on a plane which makes it quite appealing to those who travel, don’t want to miss treatments, and don’t want to dialyze in-center at another clinic or who have had problems scheduling in-center treatments away from home.
Beth, thanks for the info…I guess it will be a matter of time till Nxstage will make more info available publicly…
I should have mentioned before that the link that Gus shared from 2001, stated that NxStage supported John Kerry’s bill to get Medicare to pay for for daily treatments not that John Kerry supported NxStage.
I would suspect that if this machine gets approved and if it is a good machine home dialysis would take a leap. I think it said it used no water. This would eliminate a tremendous amount of work for the centers and the patient. No drain or water lines to consider. No extra water bill on the patient part. No water cultures. No RO cleaning or DI exchanges. No water softners or carbon tanks. I like it already.
Beth @ Oops, I must have posted it after dialysis…I’ve corrected my error there…
Marty@ Sure sounds like some type of a miracle, now no water, no electricity, no other tech needs seems like sheer independence for most of the young dialysis patients! Now with the size of that, where can’t you go with it? My goodness, I am itching to leave the house right now!
I have great news everyone! I have been approved for either Aksys or Nxstage home dialysis systems and will be making a trip to Menlo Park California to observe and learn how NxStage system works. Once I learn a bit from Nxstage I will be able to decide which system might fit me better. As I follow along I will keep everyone posted here…if possible, perhaps I might post some pictures…
Thanks Maureen! 
That is great news! Who approved you for either of these machines – your doctor, your clinic/corporation, other? What specifically did you have to do to get approval? Any tips that others can use would be appreciated, I’m sure!
WellBound just opened a new clinic here in my hometowne Modesto…they’re offering various homeHemo therapies including CAPD…
The previous clinic offering homehemo was Satellite Dialysis Inc. and both Satellite and WellBound have been working together for years now…
The approval is not a quick and go…it’s a process that may take time especially for newcomers to the world of dialysis living…
I have had dialysis for over 20 years now with 2 years at home using conventional method with an old Cobe which Satellite Dialysis provided and trained me for…sad thing is that my assistant moved on leaving me no choice but to go back in clinic…
Today, things look better than the previous years and with the new home dialysis tech springing out everywhere it makes the dialysis patient have more options…so now it’s time for me to give homehemo another try…
For those of you who just started dialysis it may take a while to start a home hemo program. There’s several things the medical care team need to be sure about you…
- You need to speak to your doctor
- You need to speak to social worker
- you need to do your homework on why you want homehemo
- Can you stick your own needles?
- research and speak to people who have done it before
If the clinic your at does not offer homehemo therapies then you need to find one that does, still you need to talk to the medical care team about your thoughts.
Keep in mind that Aksys is FDA approved…and am eligible for it
NxStage is still under study and there are several people already using it and am being given this option as well…
I hope this is sufficient information… :roll:
Hi y’all,
For those of you who were interested in learning more about the NxStage machine (which is not yet approved for home dialysis, but maybe some day soon…), their website is now up:
http://www.nxstage.com.
Hi all, just letting know that I’ve had the opportunity to visit the WellBound clinic in Menlo Park, Ca. where they have the Aksys and NxStage installed…
I had a short chat with one of the nurses there who answered my questions on how NxStage works…and did a very good job on explaining to me how it works…she also showed me the Aksys system which in my opinion is the Cadillac of all dailyhome hemo machines…based on my observations and study they both have their good points and bad points…Overall, it boils down to patient preference…
Still, I haven’t made up my mind because both have very good points…if you have any technical questions about the NxStage feel free to ask me! WIll try my best at answering them… 
Thanks for alerting us to WellBound’s new Modesto clinic. We contacted WellBound and recently added the Modesto clinic to our database. There are now 3 WellBound clinics on Home Dialysis Central. You can find them by searching for clinics by owner (WellBound).
I’m excited about the new machines that are either available or coming down the pike. I’m also excited that a growing number of clinics have home hemo programs. We hope that before too long at least 25% of patients will be doing some form of home dialysis – home hemo or PD.
Keep asking for it. Sometimes change comes from business deciding to offer something and other times it comes from consumers demanding that businesses offer something. I believe that if enough patients demand home hemo, with time it will be more available.
I just got an email from somebody i do business with…he mentioned that he just received some sealed cases of nxstage supplies – i thought i’d just pass it on… if you use/know somebody, contact me and i’ll send contact information…happy to help you save some $$ in this economy !!! D.