Many people see home dialysis as something lonely. They picture themselves sitting in the middle of a barren desert with nothing around except their dialysis machine. While the mentality of “out of center, out of mind” may seem to make sense, the opposite is actually true. Most home dialysis patients have more face time with their doctors than in-center patients. Home dialysis patients have the same support team as in-center patients—doctors, dietitians, social workers and even a nurse on call 24/7. With this health care team behind you, you’ll have someone to answer your questions, provide you with dietary tips and advice, lend an ear when you need to talk and help with any Medicare concerns you may have.

If you’re afraid of losing your current doctor, don’t worry. Home dialysis patients don’t have to get new doctors. Instead, your at-home dialysis provider will work closely with your current doctor to ensure you are getting the care you need.

Your health care team will continue to play an integral role in your treatment during home dialysis by monitoring your lab values, training you on the aspects of home dialysis and checking on you to make sure things are going according to plan. You’ll also need to have monthly in-center check ups.

If you need more company than that, get a cat! Read more about your home dialysis health care team on DaVita.com.

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Home dialysis: You won’t be all alone.

If your kidneys have failed, you will need dialysis treatment. The majority of dialysis costs, whether for home or in-center treatment, are paid through medical insurance, either your own insurance or the government-sponsored Medicare program.

In 1972, the Social Security Act was changed to extend Medicare benefits to people of any age with end stage renal disease as long as they meet certain requirements based on work credits. Find out about the requirements for Medicare coverage.

In addition, the improved outcomes that generally accompany home dialysis often allow dialysis patients to return to work or continue working, making it possible for many patients to take advantage of their companies’ medical insurance.

If you are able to continue working, you may want to in order to be covered by your company’s insurance plan. If you have any questions about whether your company’s plan covers home dialysis, talk to your Human Resources department. Someone there will be able to help you find answers to your questions.

Another option for paying for home dialysis is to buy your own medical insurance. The dialysis costs covered by a personal insurance plan vary, depending on the plan you purchase. The only problem with personal insurance plans is that some do not cover treatment for health conditions that you have received treatment for before purchasing the plan. For this reason, you should ask about any restrictions on pre-existing conditions.

A member of your health care team, your social worker, can talk to you more about insurance and help you find the plan or combination of plans that works best for you.

Learn more about home dialysis at www.davita.com/home.

Register for the Home Dialysis Newsletter. And recieve a pair of DaVita spa slippers.

Kevin Reynolds works full time doing public relations and special events for Cincinnati Public Radio. He also volunteers for the American Cancer Society. Home hemodialysis has given him back “a comforting sense of normal” he is grateful for. This is his story.

It’s been five months since I began home hemodialysis, a treatment that takes place while I sit comfortably in my recliner in my family room surrounded by pictures of my family with my wife and daughter on the couch nearby and all the amenities of my home close at hand - my books, my laptop, my remote and my TV.

How did I get to this place? The short answer is cancer got me here - malignant tumors in both kidneys caused me to lose them in separate surgeries just two months apart. We were fortunate that at a modality training session on the day before I was to enter the hospital for my second nephrectomy, we learned that there was such a thing as home hemodialysis.

It is astonishing the level of normalcy that I have attained through home hemo, a level that I truly thought would never be possible again. So, here I am today, fully entrenched in my life as a dialysis patient, but working hard not to let that define me totally. I am, more importantly, a husband, a parent, a son, a friend, an employee, a co-worker, a volunteer and hopefully a well-rounded human being.

In spite of my lack of kidneys and in spite of my almost daily dialysis, I’m leading a life fairly close to the one I lived before all this happened. Had you asked me a few months ago if I thought this was possible, I would have said, “No way.” But time, love, patience, modern technology and the support of great professionals has made it possible. Home hemodialysis has meant all the difference in my life and my family’s life. It’s given me back a comforting sense of normal, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Learn more about home hemodialysis at www.davita.com/home.

When you do home dialysis, you’re not alone. You have an entire medical team focused on your care. These health care professionals will educate you about the different at-home treatments so that with your doctor you can determine which form of home dialysis is right for you. They will also be there to train you, make changes to your dialysis treatment when necessary, monitor your health to help you achieve your best possible results and support you every step of the way.

Your home dialysis health care team is made up of your nephrologist, your peritoneal dialysis (PD) or home hemodialysis (HHD) nurse, your home-training nurse, your renal dietitian, your renal social worker, your care partner and your support system.

Each of these professionals specialize in a different area of your care so that you have a comprehensive team for anything you might need. If you need help understanding your health insurance, your renal social worker will be there to answer all your questions and explain things to you. If you need assistance getting your lab values where they need to be, your renal dietitian can work with you to create a diet that keeps you healthy.

You will likely come to know your health care team personally and see them as friends who genuinely care about you.

Learn more about home dialysis at www.davita.com/home.

Register now to recieve your very own pair of DaVita spa slippers, along with DaVita’s monthly Home Dialysis Newsletter.

If there’s anyone who knows about living in tiny spaces, it’s me. After all, I live in Los Angeles, the only place in the nation (except maybe New York) where living in a studio apartment the size of a walk-in closet is the norm. Who really needs a bedroom, anyway? And on second thought, who really needs a kitchen? Give me a hotplate and a microwave, and I’m set. However, the bad thing about living in a small space is that you have to think long and hard about things like bringing home an extra nightstand or upgrading to four dining chairs instead of two; things some people never have to consider.

But today I have good news! If you’ve considered home dialysis and decided against it because you fear you won’t have room for the dialysis machine in your home, you will be happy to know, home dialysis machines really aren’t that big! I know, I didn’t believe it either until I saw one. I had the mental image of something the size of a refrigerator, but boy, was I wrong.

The newest home dialysis equipment is designed to take up less space and require fewer supplies, which means less required storage space. Some new equipment options are also designed to provide more portability, giving you the chance to travel with your machine for work or fun. In fact, home hemodialysis (HHD) machines and most peritoneal dialysis (PD) cyclers will easily fit on your nightstand!

In addition, while the old home hemodialysis equipment required patients to make plumbing and/or electrical modifications to their homes, the new home hemodialysis machines generally do not require any home modifications. Some even come complete with their very own water purification system that is both compact and easy to use.

Phew! Finally, we studio-dwellers get a break. For more information on home dialysis equipment and treatment, visit www.davita.com/home.

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Marvin Burney’s life is finally returning to normal, thanks to home hemodialysis (HHD). The at-home dialysis treatment has given him the energy to get moving again and live the active life he’s used to. This is his story.

I started my walk down “Dialysis Road” almost thirteen years ago. When ESRD grabbed me, I was young, busy and relatively healthy, but all of that soon changed. After just a few months on in-center hemodialysis, I looked, felt, and moved around like an old, old man (and I was only 39 at the time!). My life had been very busy with working a full-time job and then spending an additional 25 to 30 hours a week volunteering as a youth baseball, football and basketball coach. But all of that stopped because my “new” life revolved around dialysis, and after treatments, I didn’t have the strength to work or coach anymore.

HHD has allowed me to reclaim my life. This is now my body, my disease, my treatment and my life, and I’m in charge. That’s a feeling I haven’t had in thirteen years, and boy, it’s a terrific feeling! HHD has also made me young again. After finishing my HHD training in August, I decided to coach a fall, youth baseball team, something I haven’t done in years.

The last year I coached when I was on in-center dialysis, I had to do all of my coaching from a golf cart because I couldn’t walk to the field or walk around during practice. On HHD, I got out on the field with the boys and led them in warm-up exercises. I walked for two hours and only stopped to demonstrate fielding and batting techniques, and I wasn’t even tired!

Yes, it’s true, dialysis still keeps me alive. But now, home hemodialysis keeps me alive, but it also lets me be young, busy and healthy again, and that makes ALL the difference!

Visit www.davita.com/home to learn more about home hemodialysis.

If you and your doctor have determined that home dialysis is right for you, you’ll work with a home dialysis provider to participate in a comprehensive training program that is tailored to your specific medical and learning needs. A quality training program will provide the education, tools and support needed to stay healthy and safe while enjoying the many benefits home dialysis can offer.

Every patient and his or her treatment are unique and training needs vary, so home dialysis providers personalize training programs to help you understand how to perform your individual treatments. During your training, you will learn all the skills and procedures needed to regularly perform your treatments independently. The wide range of topics will include how to: use your equipment, create a hygienic environment, manage supplies, handle needles and keep an organized log of your treatments, among other essential tasks. The length of training programs varies, but most people can usually learn how to safely perform their own peritoneal dialysis within a couple of weeks and home hemodialysis treatments within three to five weeks.

During training, you will be encouraged to ask any and all questions you may have. No question is too dumb, and you can never ask too many questions. DaVita’s home training nurses are great with people and truly care about each patient that they train. They spend plenty of time with each patient to make sure that everyone is given the time and attention needed to learn the home dialysis process through and through. The newest home dialysis machines on the market are also extremely user-friendly, making it even easier to learn to do home dialysis.

After the training, some patients are so confident about their skills that they say they know just as much as the nurses and could teach someone else to do home dialysis themselves.

Learn more about home dialysis at www.davita.com/home.

Register for DaVita’s monthly Home Dialysis Newsletter. And recieve your very own pair of DaVita spa slippers.