Home dialysis 'gives back family life'
A Kilcullen resident has had his family life and his work given back to him thanks in part to the funding raised by the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund, writes Brian Byrne.
Padraig Maloney of New Abbey, Castlemartin, is a former kidney transplant recipient who had to return to dialysis after 18 years when his transplanted organ failed three years ago.
It meant that he had to travel three days a week to a Dialysis Unit in Dublin for four hours of treatment at a time. But since September he has had a home dialysis unit in a room of his home, and now, as he puts it, dialysis can be managed around his life 'instead of the other way around'.
He and his wife Liz say the arrival of the home treatment system in their lives has been transformational. "Our family life is almost normal again, and the big thing that the machine has done is it has given us flexibility," Padraig notes. "When we want to see one of the kids playing football, or go to a family event or normal social things, dialysis car fit around them."
It also means that he can avail of a service in France when they go on holiday later this year, which provides similar facilities in a clinic without having to arrange to go to a hospital dialysis unit.
"And I have been able to go back to work for five days a week, something which wasn't possible while I was attending hospital for treatment."
Dialysis patients often suffer from heart problems because the fluids buildup between hospital sessions puts a strain on the cardiovascular system. But because Padraig can fit more sessions of shorter duration into his weekly regime at home, this is already showing improvement in his general health. He's actually getting more dialysis than if he were attending hospital, and down the line, if and when another suitable kidney becomes available, it means he will be in a better physical condition to match up to it.
The machine and backup service is provided under contract to the HSE by Baxter Healthcare. Padraig was one of the early people to do a training programme at Beaumont and is now very adept at the procedure.
"It is something of a family thing, with Liz and the children each having a job to do as we set up for a session," he says, adding that he can pass the time talking with the children, or working on his computer or watching a small television.
The Charity Race, which is sponsored by Diageo, was founded by Kilcullen kidney transplant recipient James Nolan. Over the years it has raised more than €1.1m which has been used to provide a fully equipped holiday home in Kerry for dialysis patients, as well as funding art therapy programmes in dialysis units in Dublin and Waterford. A key spend last year was for the provision of three home dialysis training units in Beaumont Hospital, for the programme which Padraig was able to avail of.
The 22nd race will be run at the Punchestown Festival Meeting in May.
(This article was first published in The Kildare Nationalist.)
Padraig Maloney of New Abbey, Castlemartin, is a former kidney transplant recipient who had to return to dialysis after 18 years when his transplanted organ failed three years ago.
It meant that he had to travel three days a week to a Dialysis Unit in Dublin for four hours of treatment at a time. But since September he has had a home dialysis unit in a room of his home, and now, as he puts it, dialysis can be managed around his life 'instead of the other way around'.
He and his wife Liz say the arrival of the home treatment system in their lives has been transformational. "Our family life is almost normal again, and the big thing that the machine has done is it has given us flexibility," Padraig notes. "When we want to see one of the kids playing football, or go to a family event or normal social things, dialysis car fit around them."
It also means that he can avail of a service in France when they go on holiday later this year, which provides similar facilities in a clinic without having to arrange to go to a hospital dialysis unit.
"And I have been able to go back to work for five days a week, something which wasn't possible while I was attending hospital for treatment."
Dialysis patients often suffer from heart problems because the fluids buildup between hospital sessions puts a strain on the cardiovascular system. But because Padraig can fit more sessions of shorter duration into his weekly regime at home, this is already showing improvement in his general health. He's actually getting more dialysis than if he were attending hospital, and down the line, if and when another suitable kidney becomes available, it means he will be in a better physical condition to match up to it.
The machine and backup service is provided under contract to the HSE by Baxter Healthcare. Padraig was one of the early people to do a training programme at Beaumont and is now very adept at the procedure.
"It is something of a family thing, with Liz and the children each having a job to do as we set up for a session," he says, adding that he can pass the time talking with the children, or working on his computer or watching a small television.
The Charity Race, which is sponsored by Diageo, was founded by Kilcullen kidney transplant recipient James Nolan. Over the years it has raised more than €1.1m which has been used to provide a fully equipped holiday home in Kerry for dialysis patients, as well as funding art therapy programmes in dialysis units in Dublin and Waterford. A key spend last year was for the provision of three home dialysis training units in Beaumont Hospital, for the programme which Padraig was able to avail of.
The 22nd race will be run at the Punchestown Festival Meeting in May.
(This article was first published in The Kildare Nationalist.)
