Amid pandemic, kidney patients treated at home

For almost 50 years, Richard C. Henry or 'Dick', has been struggling with kidney problems.

After years maintaining his health and even a kidney transplant, he now needs to undergo dialysis, a process that separates and removes toxins from inside the body.

But in the past four years, several times he had faced infection and extended hospital stays.

He had to find another solution, one where he could have more control over his treatments in the comfort of his home, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where Dick is vulnerable to the coronavirus, he found the perfect option to avoid exposure to doctors and other people.

It's called a Tablo machine, a dialysis tool developed by California-based Outset Medical and approved for home use earlier this year.

After a two week training with Outset, Dick's wife, Liz, was able to start administering the treatment herself.

Liz connects the machine to a water hook-up in their home, turns it on, takes Dick's vital signs, like weight and blood pressure, connects the tubes to a central access point, and lets Tablo do the rest.

This type of treatment, hemodialysis, removes waste products and excess water from a patient's blood.

"The best part is that Dick is feeling better. He was quite sick. And when we switched to hemodialysis and hemo with the Tablo, os that's the best part - to see him feeling better and consistently better," Liz said.

So much better that Dick plays golf several times a week, including a full 18 holes, and walks regularly.

Fewer in-center visits and more at-home treatments; this is what some see as the future of dialysis treatment and during the pandemic, it also helps protect high-risk patients from exposure.

"My doctor, Dr. Alvarez, told me that he didn't want me to do in-center dialysis, not that they don't do good work but there's a higher risk. There's always 24 people there dialyzing...he just said it's safer at your home. So I've become very conscious."