Taking into account delayed ferries, risks of overnight stays, and many long and exhaustive days of travel, dialysis patients on Fogo Island hope a traditional dialysis unit can be established there.
Darlene Budgell makes weekly trips from the island to Gander with her 69-year-old father Roger Morgan. Morgan is treated for dialysis at the outpatient unit in Gander’s James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre.
With the three hours of driving to and from Gander, the often-unpredictable schedule of the ferry to Fogo Island, and the sickness Morgan endures after his treatment, Budgell says treatment days are a difficult time for her father.
“It takes its toll on him, it really does,” said Budgell.
“Dad is not well after dialysis which makes it even worse. When we come back on the ferry they won’t let you stay in the vehicle and we’ve had days where he’d have to lie down across the table during the ferry ride because of his sickness.”
— Darlene Budgell
Frank Waterman, 67, drives from Fogo Island to Gander by himself every Sunday for his Monday morning dialysis treatment, returns that evening and again makes the same trip on Wednesday for his Thursday morning treatment. Waterman stays in Gander overnight at his daughter’s home, but he says if it wasn’t for that, the hassle and expense of his treatments would be tough to manage.
“If my daughter wasn’t there I’d find it some hard,” he said. “I’d have to make the trip there and back in one day. And especially with the ferry, you don’t know if you’re going to get out or not.”
Home systems
While the Fogo Island Health Centre does not offer a traditional dialysis unit, Central Health stated in an emailed response to The Central Voice that a self-care assisted program was introduced to the area in 2015. The program offers training to people, often patients themselves or family members, to do their own dialysis treatments from a small-scale home system.
However, many are not comfortable with the responsibility of operating a home system and Fogo Island Mayor Wayne Collins says the training has not been taken by residents of the area that currently undergo dialysis treatment.
“Some people have tried it, but they were very uncomfortable and nervous with it. The have discontinued using this home system to travel to Gander,” said Collins. “And with the risk of something going wrong, the patients rightfully don’t feel comfortable doing it themselves.”
Budgell says the training opportunity was offered to her mother, as a spouse is often recommended for the training, but she says with her mother’s age and the responsibility of handling the treatments, she declined doing it.
“My Mom and Dad are getting up their in age and it’s too much for Mom to handle,” said Budgell.
In December of last year, the provincial government announced it would purchase an additional 20 home hemodialysis machines over 2018 and 2019. But with the lack of success this system has had with the patients on Fogo Island, ultimately Collins and Budgell hope a traditional dialysis unit with trained hospital staff can be established at the health centre.
In keeping with patient confidentiality protocols, Central Health could not disclose the number of dialysis patients on Fogo Island.
“It’s very unfortunate because the added costs to a patient on Fogo Island versus a patient elsewhere is astronomical to say the least.”
— Wayne Collins, Fogo Island mayor
So far, Collins says any changes to dialysis services for the area seems unlikely because the costs of bringing a dialysis unit to the town’s hospital is not feasible.
“All the concerns have been addressed to Central Health but no positive results came out of it. We’re still discussing where we can go with this issue,” Collins said. “When you look at the expenditures government would have to undertake to bring this here, you can understand where they are coming from, but it still doesn’t do anything to improve the comfort of the patients here.
“It’s very unfortunate because the added costs to a patient on Fogo Island versus a patient elsewhere is astronomical to say the least.”
Both Budgell and Waterman say they have brought their concerns to Central Health, but they do not expect to see any changes in dialysis services.
“If the treatment was here, soon as it was done my father could come home, lie down and feel good,” Budgell said. “It would make all the difference in the world, but I don’t think it’s going to change anytime soon.”
