SNOW HILL — Doris Edwards began getting dialysis treatments Feb. 6, 1986 — almost 27 years ago.
It may not be the world record-breaker, but it’s a whole lot longer than the average survival rate of 5-10 years without a kidney transplant.
Tina Everette, a patient care technician with the DaVita dialysis center in Snow Hill who was at Edwards home Monday, described her as “spunky.”
“She has a lot of life left in her,” Everette said.
Edwards, 74, said she isn’t exactly sure why her kidneys failed, but she was diagnosed with chronic nephritis, an inflammation in the kidneys, and she currently has cysts on her kidneys.
She went to a doctor when her eyes were swollen and was treated for a couple weeks. The doctor then sent her to a specialist.
It was 10 years before she started having dialysis — 18 years in Kinston, two years in Greenville and finally in Snow Hill when the center was built.
“I’ve never missed a day, but one day in 27 years,” Edwards said.
The Greene County native underwent peritoneal dialysis, where the blood is cleaned inside the body, for a couple of years. For most of those years, she has and continues to receive hemodialysis with a machine — basically an artificial kidney.
Neither of her kidneys functions. She goes to the DaVita center near her home in Snow Hill three hours a day, three days a week. It’s a tiring process, but one that is vital for survival.
“I come home and it’ll take me a half a day to sleep it off,” she said, adding her good days are the other four days of the week.
She has to take medication to prevent getting an upset stomach.
About a month and half ago Edwards got a painful blood clot in her leg at the access point for dialysis. Following her bout in the hospital, she’s using a wheelchair until it gets better.
Joetta Cox, a social worker at DaVita, said the staff decided to award Edwards on Monday with the longest time on dialysis in the company because of her serious blood clot condition. But the pain is easing up, Edwards said.
“I don’t know,” Cox said, “she must have good genes. She thinks what she wants, she does what she wants to do and she eats what she wants to eat.”
Edwards said the grace of God, her church and her family are what keep her going. She has four children, a daughter-in-law and five grandchildren to help her, and two great-grandchildren.
One of her grandchildren, Amanda Harrell of Hookerton, is also a registered nurse who visits her daily.
“She eats in moderation,” Harrell said about Edwards’ dietary habits, “and she restricts her fluids.”
Her aide, Sabrina Edwards, has been assisting her for the past two years.
“She is very positive and very independent,” Sabrina Edwards said. “She tries to do on her own. She doesn’t give up.”
An online search revealed a few people who have exceeded 45 years on dialysis. Edwards said, matter-of-factly, she plans to see her current descendents grow up.
“Every day you can get up and see the light of day,” she said, “is a good thing.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Breakout box:
End-stage renal disease in the U.S.
Ages of renal failure Number Percent
Below 19 7,388 1.4
20-24 98,277 16.9
45-64 261,940 45.1
65-74 119,875 20.5
75 and up 93,261 16.1
Primary Cause Number Percent
Diabetes 219,794 37.8
High blood pressure 145,182 25
Glomerulonephritis 84,521 14.6
Cystic kidney 27,960 4.8
Other urologic 12,919 2.2
Other/unknown/missing 90,365 15.6
Sources: U.S. Renal Data System Annual Data Report (2012), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Updated January 2013
For information, visit the National Kidney Foundation website at kidney.org