Home Dialyzors in Vegas: It’s a Safe Bet!

Beat the odds, and join your fellow dialyzers in Las Vegas this October for a long weekend (Columbus Day holiday October 7-10) for some educational sessions on dialysis in general, and specifically trends in nocturnal dialysis. Meet up with other dialyzors and professionals in an informal atmosphere, conducive to making new friends, and seeing old ones, and just to have some fun in the sun!!

Home Dialyzors United has not had a meetup in a few years, since our fearless leader. Rich Berkowitz, passed away in 2013. It took some time to regroup, and a lot of planning to get this far, but we finally decided to return to Las Vegas, the site of one of HDU’s most successful conferences, and honor Rich with another meetup for our members. After 2 years of revising the HDU mission statement, goals and objectives, policy and advocacy programs and so much more, the Board of Directors wants to share our progress with you, the home dialysis community (and dialyzors in general, or even if you are just heading towards dialysis). What better place to come together than America’s playground, Las Vegas!

Check out and download the program to explore all the great activities that HDU has planned for you. Arrive early Friday, October 7, if you can, to rest up for the fun times ahead. To get things off to a great start, there will be a Meet and Greet from 5-7 on Friday, with light refreshments, and conference registration. Wait until you see the “Goody Bags” we have lined up for you! After the meet and greet, we are proposing that, if you aren’t too tired, sign up for the evening bus tour of Las Vegas, taking in the Strip, the lights, and the action. Hop off the bus for dinner at the restaurant of your choice, or, retire to your room and relax. The choices are many, designed to appeal to everyone!

Saturday morning, join us in the conference room at 8 for a cup of coffee, and we will start the day with Dori Schatell of Home Dialysis Central, our keynote speaker, talking to us about optimal dialysis, how to make the jump to nocturnal if you haven’t already done so, and how to achieve optimal dialysis, including how to advocate for your best health. Dori is guaranteed to get the blood pumping, as we move into several panel discussions with professionals from NxStage, Satellite, Redsense, Baxter and more. While imparting information, these sessions are designed for you, the dialyzor, to be an active participant.

We plan to end the Saturday morning sessions with one last panel, focusing on the many challenges of travelling on dialysis, and unveil some exciting travel opportunities. If you think travelling to Vegas was fun, wait until you see what HDU and NxStage have in store for the future!

But wait, we’re not done! As the educational sessions draw to a close, we are going to move directly into a seated luncheon, where HDU will make its annual awards for outstanding achievements in the home dialysis field.

Now we are done! But you don’t have to be: use the afternoon and evening to rest up, explore Las Vegas on your own, book a tour through one of the links we have provided or the hotel can arrange for you, or, of course, see one of the shows that Las Vegas is famous for, even schedule that dialysis treatment, either in your room or at a nearby center!

After a night on the town, sleep in on Sunday, but don’t miss brunch from 10-12. You can fortify yourself with plenty of great food, and every table will be hosted by a professional in the field of dialysis, representing a subject of interest to dialyzors. Move from table to table, and talk with them one on one, asking whatever questions you may have. And just before we all say goodbye, HDU will award a few parting gifts to some lucky ticket holders, including one grand prize – reimbursement of all your travel expenses to the Las Vegas HDU conference! After all, it is Las Vegas, and you have to beat the odds!

Have we tempted you to join us? I sure hope so. And we at HDU understand the constraints of travelling while on dialysis, so we have tried to make getting to this meetup as simple as possible for you. Southwest Airlines, with flights from almost all major cities is offering participants flights with no cancellation penalties, free baggage checks, and of course, your dialyzor and medical supplies fly for free, always! The hotel, Circus Circus, will receive your vacation supply orders, and deliver them to your room on check in, again, at no charge. On the HDU website, we have made registration as simple as one..two…three…

First, scroll to the Registration Button, and enter how many people are attending. The $50 registration fee is for a dialyzor and partner, and we only ask about attendance at events so we can provide the hotel with a head count and notify them that you will/will not be receiving medical supplies. Everything is included in that one fee.

Then, scroll down to the Travel button, and make your hotel reservations (fully refundable until 72 hours prior to check in). Stay for as long as you like, and be sure to register by September 16 to get the conference rate. A $21 resort fee will be added to your bill at check in for each day you are there, to cover wifi and resort activities. Once you have a place to stay, check out Southwest and see if they have a great rate from your closest airport to Las Vegas, or use one of the many airline sites like Cheapoair.com or kayak.com. Hint, air fares are at their lowest right now, surprisingly, according to Peter Greenburg, industry analyst!

Finally, for those of you who need a little extra help getting to the HDU meetup, our friends at NxStage are providing a $200 travel stipend to the first 30 people who register and submit an application. Just tell us what home hemo has meant to you, register, and join us in Las Vegas. We will notify you by email of the award, and have a check waiting for you at the onsite conference registration in Las Vegas.

What are you waiting for? Pack your bags, head for the Strip, meet up with old friends, and make new ones. Your secret is safe with us, so relax, let your hair down (or put it up) and plan on having some fun. Remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

HDU is an entirely volunteer organization, our Board of Directors is composed of dialyzors, and care partners, and our newly created Advisory Board has representatives from all aspects of the renal community. We want to meet you!