Sep 21 2009
NxStage Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTM), a leading manufacturer of innovative dialysis products, today announced that home dialysis patient Harvey Wells, 57, has embarked on his third annual "Grandpa's Road Trip" with the NxStage(R) System One(TM). As a portable home hemodialysis machine, the NxStage System One provides Mr. Wells the opportunity to fit hemodialysis therapy into his own lifestyle and schedule. Mr. Wells is once again celebrating this freedom by traveling the country in his RV and sharing with other patients his experience doing home daily hemodialysis with the NxStage System One.
"NxStage was founded to improve the lives of dialysis patients, like Harvey, by providing them the freedom to dialyze when they want and where they want," said Jeffrey H. Burbank, chief executive officer of NxStage Medical. "Harvey is an inspiration to all of us at NxStage. He also shares our belief that, although home hemodialysis is not for everyone, there are many patients who can benefit from the reported health and quality of life benefits of more frequent home dialysis."
Mr. Wells' "Grandpa's Road Trip 2009: The Football Tour" began on Sunday, September 13, 2009 in Cleveland. During the tour, Mr. Wells will also be attending football games in Denver, Baltimore, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Kansas City, and spending several days at local dialysis centers in each city meeting with kidney patients and educating them about home hemodialysis. The 2009 Road Trip will run through the end of regular season football on January 3, 2010.
Mr. Wells was first diagnosed with reduced kidney function at the age of 18. Following a failed kidney transplant, Mr. Wells began four and a half hour dialysis sessions at a treatment center three days a week in 2006. These treatments often left him fatigued and made traveling difficult. Now, as a NxStage System One patient, Mr. Wells dialyzes on a more frequent basis and travels with his family.
In 2007, Mr. Wells and his wife took their two grandsons on a two-week road trip in his RV with the NxStage System One, spanning 3,700 miles and 11 states. In the summer of 2008, Mr. Wells expanded his tour to a 51-day excursion covering more than 12,500 miles and 37 states. Along the way, he dialyzed with a partner in his RV using the System One and visited 22 dialysis centers to speak to kidney patients about home hemodialysis.
"I'm excited to be able to share my love of football with my grandsons and make stops at dialysis centers between games," Wells said. "I am passionate about what this small, portable hemodialysis machine has done for me and the freedom it has given me and my family to travel together all over this country."
The NxStage System One is the first truly portable hemodialysis system cleared for home use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Its simplicity and compact size are intended to allow ease of use and to give patients the opportunity to travel with their therapy with their doctor's approval. It plugs into standard electrical outlets and, unlike conventional hemodialysis systems, requires no special infrastructure to operate. Under the guidance of their physician, patients can use the NxStage System One, with their trained partners, where, how and when it best meets their needs, at home or on vacation.
Follow Harvey Wells on his 2009 "Grandpa's Road Trip" on the NxStage website (www.nxstage.com).
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