Tag Archives: Peggy Eustace

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. …

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 …

THE number of Clare patients requiring up to four hours of hospital dialysis three times a week has increased by 17% over a two-year period, new figures have revealed. There are 258 people in the Mid-West receiving lifesaving dialysis treatment in various forms. The Clare Champion has learned 62 Clare patients attend for in centre haemodialysis treatment at units in University Hospital Limerick and the Fresenius dialysis unit at Riverside Park on the Dock Road. In addition another seven patients from Clare attend Unit 7, Merlin Park and the Braun Wellstone unit in Galway for their in centre treatment. Both Galway units are closer to home for Clare patients living in the north of the county. This compares to 50 patients who attended UHL for haemodialysis treatment and nine in Galway in 2019. There are currently four patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD), while seven people are now on home haemodialysis programmes. These patients have been trained by their renal teams …