If the picture you have in your mind of the typical dialysis patient is anything less than vibrant, take a look at Bill Peckham’s series of entries about motoring on a trawler up the Puget Sound.
While I much prefer sailing to motoring, get a load of this:
“Back in ‘89, ‘90 when I had a transplant and was running boats for a living the plan was to move into sail boats and take a summer to run up the Inside Passage. I’m not ready to do that tomorrow but the dream is back in my head. I think you could get a couple of those clam shell luggage carriers lashed down on deck which would allow you to carry at least three weeks of NxStage dialysis supplies. Maybe by the time they come out with a System Three I’ll be able to get three months of supplies on board. That would get me to Sitka and points north.”
Yikes. The Inside Passage. Think about that the next time you hold a mental image of a dialysis patient.
The NxStage System One makes travel for dialysis patients possible, and will be the option of choice if and when I make the transition to home hemodialysis. Just have the supplies FedEx’d to your next location and you’re ready to go just about anywhere.
I have a recurring dream of a dialysis machine about the size of the System One but instead of cannulating needles in your fistula, you just stick your thumb in a device similar to a blood oxygen meter. Until then, the System One looks like the way to go.
Update: Monday, 26 May 2008 10:30AM CDT: Here’s a 1:13 video of Peckham’s setup aboard the Grand Waltz.
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