Renal patient to embark on first trip away in 15 years thanks to mobile dialysis machine
17 June, 2024
A renal patient is set to embark on her first holiday in fifteen years after receiving a mobile dialysis machine that she can easily transport in the back of her car.
Ceri Ann Granton, from Brynsiencyn on Anglesey, has received dialysis treatment since she was 18-years-old after being diagnosed with focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) as a teenager, which is a disease that can lead to kidney failure, and can only be treated with dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Sadly, Ceri has had two failed attempts at a kidney transplant and is now on permanent dialysis. Up until now, she has needed to visit Ysbyty Gwynedd’s Renal Unit four times a week over a number of years.
To make life easier for Ceri, the team at the Renal Unit have obtained a Physidia S3 Mobile Dialysis Unit for her, not to only dialyse at home but to take with her on trips away. The machine’s monitor is a communicating device – dialysis parameters are stored on the tablet and are transmitted to the dialysis unit after each session. The home therapy team can this way follow Ceri’s dialysis and assist her if needed.
Ceri, 39, hopes the device will help her to lead a more normal life going forward, she said: “For around 20 years I have been receiving my dialysis, the first 16 years I had home hemo dialysis but sadly I couldn’t carry on with this as I became too unwell so since then I’ve needed to go into the unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd. This has taken over a huge part of my life and prevented me from living a normal life.
“I’m so grateful to the team there who have now supplied me with this new machine that I’m able to take with me if I want to go away and it allows me to have my dialysis at home, which I never thought I’d be able to do again.
“I haven’t been on holiday anywhere for 15 years, this is due to having periods of time when I have been too unwell and also I find it sometimes quite stressful to go to another hospital while away for my dialysis.
“This machine will provide me with so much flexibility, as I can choose the time of day I wish to have my dialysis and also take it away with me.
“I’m planning on going on a family holiday to the Lake District later this year and it’s a huge relief to know I have this machine that I can take with me and not have to worry about making plans to go into hospital while I am away.”
Ceri, who is the first person in Wales to use this type of machine, has been supported at home by the Home Therapy Nurses so she is fully confident in using the equipment independently.
Interim Home Dialysis Manager, Sara Baker, said: “I’ve known Ceri for around 22 years now and she feels more like a friend than a patient to me.
“It’s wonderful to see her at home having her dialysis, and hopefully trips away this year – it will be great to see her getting her independence back.”