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Clare woman hails organ donation as gift of life and freedom

BUSY mum-of-three Geraldine Frost was raising a family, running a shop and holding down a job in a medical devices company, in the 1990s, when a routine blood test changed her life. As part of a routine medical, organised by her employer Analog Devices, high levels of a substance called creatinine were detected. “That can be a sign of kidney disease,” Geraldine explained. “I had been feeling very tired, but I put that down to being rushed off my feet. My mother had passed away, at the age of just 50, from kidney failure and, as it turned out, I was then diagnosed with a very rare type of kidney disease.” Because of her condition, Geraldine’s kidneys were no longer able to perform their normal function of filtering out impurities. This necessitated dialysis, a mechanical process to cleanse waste and fluid. The procedure, which has to happen several times a week, can lead to major restrictions in someone’s daily life. …

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Increase in number of Clare people on kidney dialysis

THE overall number of Clare people receiving some forms of kidney dialysis treatment at facilities in the Mid-West, has risen to 89, according the the Irish Kidney Association (IKA). As Organ Donor Awareness Week begins on Saturday (April 23), the IKA has released figures showing that 34 now attend the haemo-dialysis unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). A further 39 people attend Fresenius Medical Care on the Dock Road in Limerick. while seven Clare people travel to the B Braun Wellstone Unit in Galway, as it is closer to home for those patients. Patients must attend their unit three times a week for four hours of dialysis treatment in order to stay alive. A total of nine people are currently on the home therapy’s programmes. Dialysis works as an artificial kidney to remove toxins from the body when a person’s own kidneys can no longer undertake this function. All these forms of treatment keep the person alive until such time …

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Home Dialysis transforming the lives of chronic kidney disease patients

Home dialysis is transforming the lives of chronic kidney disease patients in the Mid-West, improving quality of life through efficient treatment modes and schedules that can be adapted to people’s domestic and working lives, and reducing frequency of hospital visits for the patient. At a time when some 85-90% of the 200-220 patients receiving dialysis treatment for chronic kidney failure are doing so ‘in-centre’ at University Hospital Limerick, making it one of Ireland’s busiest haemodialysis services, the hospital’s Department of Renal Medicine team continues to promote home-based dialysis as the best option for patients requiring the treatment. Dr Liam Casserly, Lead Nephrologist in the Department, who has cared for patients on dialysis treatments for the past 25 years, says: “Patients tell us that home treatments provide a quality of life that comes closest to their normal routines; whether that’s going to the shop, going away for a weekend, having a holiday, or even sudden events like funerals, these home therapies …

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