Patient stories - PD

Emilio Tovar

Emilio Tovar is a DaVita At Home dialysis patient who lives an active lifestyle with his wife in Texas.

My name is Emilio Tovar and I am a 62 year-old peritoneal dialysis (PD) patient. Selecting DaVita at Home for my dialysis treatments has been the best choice I have made in managing my care. Together with my wife, Mary Lou, I have performed dialysis treatments at home for nearly four and a half years while still continuing all the activities that I love.

I've been running marathons for more than 40 years, and thanks to DaVita at Home, I continue to run two to eight miles everyday. The DaVita staff members I work with have been great, working hard to meet the demands of my active lifestyle. Whenever I had any questions or needed assistance, two of my excellent PD nurses, Youngie and Laura, have been on hand to help. Offering my wife and me their personal cell phone numbers in case I need assistance after hours, they make my treatment program much easier than I would ever have expected.

I've always loved to travel and with DaVita at Home, dialysis won't stop me from continuing to see new places. Since I started home dialysis, I've visited Yellowstone National Park and have enjoyed such activities as camping, tubing and swimming. By taking my equipment and one week of supplies along for the ride, I've been able to spend my days outside and my nights dialyzing in our motor home.

DaVita at Home's team of nurses, dieticians and social workers have given me all the support I need and it has paid off -- not once have I had an infection while working on my ranch or traveling the world. More than four years after starting home dialysis, I know that nothing is going to stop me from doing all the activities that I love, with the people I love.

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Roman Foronda

Roman Foronda is a peritoneal dialysis patient living in California who recently won the DaVita PD Superstar Contest.

Whenever I tell someone that I'm on dialysis, they look at me like I've been condemned to a death sentence. To be honest, I used to think the same thing, imagining death would be easier than dialysis.

For the past 32 years, I've led and played for the band, "Backstreet" -- and all of a sudden, it felt like my life was upside down, and I worried my new situation would end in me breaking up the band. Despite my initial concerns, home dialysis is my way of life, allowing me enough freedom to continue playing with my band, traveling and caring for my grandchildren.

The first step in beginning dialysis was to work with my doctor to select a treatment method. I chose peritoneal dialysis (PD) and soon underwent the surgical procedure to implant the tube needed for treatment. Having a tube in my stomach was foreign to me, and I felt sorry for myself, but fortunately, my perspective changed the day I visited the DaVita dialysis center in Upland, CA.

I've always been a good judge of character and from the time I met Anita Mata, my peritoneal dialysis trainer and nurse, I knew I was blessed and everything was going to be alright. With Anita's expertise, patience and compassion, learning how to perform home dialysis seemed so easy. She performed my first PD treatment, patiently explaining everything to me in simple terms I could understand. I expected the treatment to hurt or feel weird, but was pleasantly surprised by how non-evasive peritoneal dialysis can be.

Due to my condition, I see a variety of doctors, including optometrists, podiatrists, heart specialists, and my primary doctor. At each office, there might be one or two staffers who go the extra mile and make me feel at ease, but at the DaVita center in Upland, everyone from the receptionist to the social worker does an exceptional job of making me feel like I'm with family.

I am thankful for PD and the DaVita staff that made my transition to dialysis worry-free.

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Dolores Magnin

Dolores Magnin is a peritoneal dialysis patient living in Oconto Falls, WI.

For the past 10 years, Dolores Magnin has been dressing up as Mrs. Santa for the holidays and spreading Christmas cheer everywhere she goes. Since she began peritoneal dialysis (PD) in August of 2006, she has been visiting her dialysis center each Christmas with her friend, Mr. Santa, to pass out gifts and visit with patients.

The pair, whose suits look authentic, come into the dialysis center on two days before Christmas to hand out goodie bags to the in-center patients and any home patients who might be visiting the center that day for a check-up.

In addition to visiting the dialysis center, Dolores and Mr. Santa visit organizations such as “Adopt a Family,” local schools, organizations for the physically and mentally challenged and other Christmas programs. The pair makes about 26 appearances during the holidays.

Dolores started the tradition of dressing up as Mrs. Santa when she and two friends decided it would be nice to hang lights on the trees along the beach in Oconto Falls, WI, during the holidays. The idea caught on and led to a parade down the street, now referred to as “The Avenue of Lights.” The first year of the parade, Dolores noticed something was missing: Mr. and Mrs. Santa. Later, she and her friend decided to play the parts.

Diane M. Porfilio, the Facility Administrator at Dolores’ dialysis center, says they’ve had an excellent response from the patients toward Mr. and Mrs. Santa.

“We have Christmas songs being played in the background during the day, and when the Santas come in, it is so awesome,” Diane said.

The teammates and doctors get involved, too. Last year, Dr. Thomas Smith, one of the center’s nephrologists, brought in his guitar and sang holiday songs while Mr. and Mrs. Santa handed out gifts.

Dolores said her favorite part of dressing up as Mrs. Santa is seeing the looks on the people’s faces when she and Mr. Santa come in and talk with them.

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Michael Walston

Michael Walston is a former peritoneal dialysis patient in Bakersfield, CA, and one of the winners of the PD Superstars contest.

Michael Walston is a 32-year-old salesman for a heavy equipment company. When he was told he would have to begin dialysis in August of 2006, he knew that he wanted to do peritoneal dialysis (PD).

“I had done my homework about the treatments and knew that only peritoneal dialysis would work for me because I work full-time and have a lot of things to do in my life,” he said.

Michael’s nephrologist referred him to Bakersfield South Home Dialysis, where his training nurse worked around his daily schedule to teach him how to do PD.

“Because she really understood what my concerns were, I only had to miss one day of work — the day of the surgery to place my catheter,” he said. “I was able to do my training in the late afternoon and early evening so I could call on my clients during the day.”

Michael started out his PD treatment doing manual exchanges or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). During this time, he would do his exchanges at work, in his truck and at home. After doing CAPD for a short time, he learned to use a cycler and began doing continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD) at night while he slept.

“In the short time I’ve been on PD, I have been able to attend a major sales meeting in Las Vegas. I’ve spent a weekend in San Francisco to see a 49ers game...I’ve also been able to go hunting with my buddies and spend time at my cabin in the mountains,” he said. “Being able to do these things has made my life feel pretty normal even if I do sleep hooked up to a machine.”

Michael recently traveled to Munich, Germany, a trip he won because of his sales record.

“Because of the way I’ve been able to do my dialysis, I’ve been able to maintain my place as the top salesman in my division,” he said.

Michael believes having a positive outlook on life is important if you want to stay healthy and maintain an active lifestyle on dialysis.

“My nurse and I have talked about this dialysis several times, and she tells me that my attitude has a lot to do with my success. I guess she is right,” he said. “I always try to keep a positive attitude about everything because that is the best way for me to live.”

Michael received a kidney transplant on November 21 and is doing great.