Patient Story - Nikolas

Nikolas was born with tumors on each of his kidneys. As a young child, he underwent surgery to have the tumors removed, and due to complications, one of the kidneys failed. As a result, he would live the next 15 years with just half of one kidney. He was fortunate to receive a kidney transplant from his aunt, but within one year, the transplanted kidney failed. Nikolas and his parents considered peritoneal dialysis as a treatment option, but as a result of the many surgeries he'd already had during his young life, Nik had such extensive scar tissue that the procedure to begin peritoneal dialysis was impossible. He would soon be required to begin dialysis treatments.

Nikolas and his parents knew they were faced with a grueling schedule of trips to and from a dialysis center for Nikolas to get treatments that would last 3-4 hours at a time, three times each week. Nikolas' father, Wolfgang, began researching centers with extended hours so that Nikolas could continue going to classes during the day. "We knew the amount of time in-center dialysis involved, and we wanted to find a way for it to be the least disruptive to his life as possible," says Wolfgang.

Through research, they eventually discovered the NxStage System One, a new portable dialysis machine. The device would not only enable Nikolas to do treatments at home, but also do so on a more frequent basis which is closer to how healthy kidneys work. Nikolas and his parents knew this was the perfect treatment option for him.

Since being on NxStage, Nikolas has been doing great! He feels better physically and is less fatigued. His increased energy level has helped him in school. He is currently a student at the Milwaukee School of Engineering where he studies software engineering, a path he chose largely because he has been inspired by the NxStage machine which, he says, "takes something very complex and designs it so that it is easy to use - and, really helps people."

Back to Patient Stories

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.