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In many respects, Ashley Looney is your typical 25–year–old. She's studying cosmetology, looking forward to her wedding and making plans for her future.
But unlike many 25–year–olds, Looney suffers from kidney failure and has to undergo regular dialysis.
Instead of going into a treatment center for dialysis, however, she is using a relatively new machine that allows her to do her own dialysis at home.
Looney, of Homewood, was one of the first people in the area to begin using the NxStage System One, a machine that lets her do her own dialysis at home instead of going into a treatment center.
Previously, in–center dialysis treatments required Looney to go three times a week, for up to six hours at a time.
After receiving training, Looney can now do her dialysis treatments herself. She does them five nights a week, in less than half the time it would take if she were going into a center to have them done.
She has been doing her at–home treatments for about a year.
Lynn Brzykcy, a registered nurse who is the clinical coordinator for the home hemo program with DaVita Hammond Group, said despite her young age, Looney was a perfect candidate for the home dialysis machine.
"She is a strong individual, and you have to be able to put needles in your arm and set up the machine," Brzykcy said. "She has just excelled in doing this." Brzykcy said the machine functions more like natural kidneys than traditional dialysis does because you receive dialysis more frequently. That means not as many toxins and fluids are building up in the body.
"When we see patients every other day, the toxins and fluids build up during off days," she said. "They get bloated, feel sick. We have to do more of an extreme dialysis. This machine is a fourth of the size, is portable and acts more like a normal kidney."
The difference is incredible, Brzykcy said.
"She can continue on with her life, and do dialysis on her own schedule," she said. Looney, who has had kidney problems for years, is waiting for a kidney transplant and is on the list in Indiana and Illinois. In the meantime, however, she will continue to do her own dialysis.
She can take the machine to Paul Mitchell cosmetology school, if she has to. She even took the machine with her to Florida when she went to a concert. "Hopefully, I won't have to be on this too much longer. Hopefully I'll get my transplant soon," she said. "But I'm getting used to doing my dialysis. It is less stressful, and I can plan things. I can go downtown if I want to, I can hang out with my friends."
She is planning for a future. "I have freedom now," she said. "I have more energy. I can have a life."
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