Patient Story - Craig

Craig was just 13-years-old when a routine physical required for a hiking trip with his Boy Scout troop revealed he had decreased kidney function. By the time he was 19, his kidneys were failing, requiring him to go on dialysis. For several months, Craig went to a center three times a week for three or four hours at a time for dialysis treatments. In 1987 he was able to receive a kidney transplant that lasted five years. When it failed, he went back to in-center dialysis treatments, though he briefly attempted peritoneal dialysis as an option (it was not an adequate treatment for him.) He remained on in-center dialysis for the next five years, an experience that he says he "hated." In addition to feeling ill and fatigued almost constantly, he says the environment at the center was depressing and constricting. "You have to operate on the center's schedule. Your time is not your own," he says.

One day during a routine center visit, Craig met someone giving out information about a new portable dialysis therapy called the NxStage System One, which would not only enable him to do his treatments at home but also do so on a more frequent basis, a routine that more closely reflected a healthy, functioning kidney. Craig immediately knew the treatment option was for him and was eager to start training as soon as possible. "I bugged my doctor for a year, incessantly, until it was available!" he says. In December 2003, he started training on NxStage.

Throughout the past six years on daily home dialysis, Craig reports that NxStage has dramatically improved his life. For a long time, he has felt more in control of his own health and feels better and more energetic. With the freedom he has from using NxStage, he has been able to return to work part-time for a homeless shelter, exercise more often and travel. The ease of traveling that has come with portable dialysis has been one of the most important benefits for Craig, and he has traveled all over the country to places including Washington, D.C., Lake Tahoe, Monterrey, N.M., and the Sierra Foothills for camping trips. He says he also has more quality time to spend with friends and family. This past December, Craig was married to his sweetheart, Sherrie. The couple spent their honeymoon in Disneyland and brought NxStage along.

In addition to improving his quality of life and health, Craig says NxStage has also changed his outlook on the future. As the treatment has given him more time to do what he wants in life and has improved his health, Craig says, "With NxStage, I feel more confident and optimistic about the years to come!"

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This patient has given NxStage Medical Inc. permission to share his/her experience with daily home therapy on the NxStage System One. The experiences reported by this patient will not necessarily be experienced by you. All patients differ and their experiences will vary.