Home Hemodialysis Customer Support: 866-697-8243
Peritoneal Dialysis Customer Support: 800-323-5188
Talk to a Patient Consultant about Home Dialysis: 888-200-6456
Home Hemodialysis Customer Support: 866-697-8243
Peritoneal Dialysis Customer Support: 800-323-5188
Talk to a Patient Consultant about Home Dialysis: 888-200-6456
Valuable Support Networks for Care Partners
There may be times as a care partner that you find yourself questioning whether or not this is right for you.
We know there will be ups and downs along the way because of the responsibilities you’ve taken on. We hope that by providing you with the right support resources and tools, you can continue to perform as a successful team with your friend or loved one.
BUILD A SUPPORT NETWORK
Building a support network is one of the best ways to manage stress and uncertainty. This network should be a place where you can discuss feelings, concerns, fears and other topics.
Whether you choose to develop your own support network—such as a group of friends, family, a therapist or other care partners—or you join an organized group put together by a faith organization, your employer or a mental health professional, we urge you to find a situation that feels right for you. You deserve a safe place to share what you are going through.
A support network doesn’t have to be a place where you only talk about stressful situations. It can be a group of old friends that get together on a regular basis to relax and have fun. Going bowling, taking a trip to the beach, dining out or watching a movie with friends may be the exact kind of support you need when feeling stressed.
Related Pages:
Becoming a Care Partner for a Loved One on Hemodialysis
Developing Your Kidney Disease Care Plan
Turn To Respite Care When You Need It
Risks and Responsibilities
Patients should review the following information carefully and discuss it with their doctors to decide whether home hemodialysis with NxStage® systems is right for them.
Users should weigh the risks and benefits of performing home hemodialysis with NxStage systems.
- Medical staff will not be present to respond to health emergencies that might happen during home treatments.
- Users and their care partners will be responsible for all aspects of their hemodialysis treatments from start to finish.
- Users may not experience the reported benefits of home, more frequent or nocturnal hemodialysis with the NxStage systems.
- The NxStage systems require a prescription for use.
Certain forms of home hemodialysis have additional risks.
- If a doctor prescribes more frequent home hemodialysis, vascular access is exposed to more frequent use which may lead to access related complications, including infection of the site. Doctors should evaluate the medical necessity of more frequent treatments and discuss the risks and benefits of more frequent therapy with users.
- If a doctor prescribes “solo/independent” home hemodialysis without a care partner during waking hours, risks of significant injury or death increase because no one is present to help users respond to health emergencies. If users experience needles coming out, blood loss, or very low blood pressure during solo home hemodialysis, they may lose consciousness or become physically unable to correct the health emergency. Users will need additional ancillary devices and training to perform solo home hemodialysis.
- If a doctor prescribes “nocturnal” home hemodialysis at night while the user and a care partner are sleeping, risks increase due to the length of treatment time and because therapy is performed while users and their care partners are sleeping. These risks include, among other things, blood access disconnects and blood loss during sleep, blood clotting due to slower blood flow or increased treatment time or both, and delayed response to alarms when waking from sleep.
APM2053 Rev. D