Local Clinic Offering Dialysis-Friendly Holiday Recipes

With a plethora of desserts and other goodies rounding the dinner table during the holiday season, it's easy to forget that some friends and family members with illnesses such as kidney disease can't consume certain types of foods.

That prompted a local dialysis clinic, Fresenius Medical Care, at 4553 Gunn Highway, to develop tasty dialysis-friendly recipes with Chef Aaron McCargo Jr., of the Food Network's show "Big Daddy's House."

Patch talked to registered dietitian Elizabeth McCoy from the Carrollwood clinic about the recipes and how the clinic got started.

Patch: How did Fresenius Get started, and when did it open?

McCoy: Fresenius Medical Care has more than three decades of experience in the research and development of dialysis products and services, and has nearly 2,900 clinics in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Africa that provide kidney dialysis treatments to approximately 228,000 patients. We provide products, dialysis care services, education and support for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

FMCNA's Carrollwood clinic opened in 1995, and it is located at 4553 Gunn Highway, in the Westwood Plaza Shopping Center. It serves the Tampa area’s growing population of people with CKD.

Patch: What does the company provide for dialysis patients?

McCoy: Our dialysis care services include hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and transplant services, in-center, at home, or in a hospital, to fit our patients’ needs. We also provide a number of other services to meet the medical, dietary, financial, and social service needs of patients with kidney failure. Fresenius Medical Care's healthcare teams (social workers, dietitians and clinicians) work closely with all of our patients, giving them diet and exercise tips that will help them live a better life on dialysis.

Fresenius Medical Care also hosts free Treatment Options Program (TOPs) sessions at no cost for anyone who wants to learn more about CKD and treatment options for kidney failure.  Classes will discuss dialysis and kidney transplants to help attendees choose a treatment that best fits their health and lifestyle needs. Educators will also talk about managing CKD and patient support services.

Patch: How important are the types of foods that dialysis patients eat to the improvement of their health?

McCoy: Maintaining a healthy diet is a goal for many people, but for those on dialysis it can be a matter of life and death. That’s why our team at FMCNA is showing patients how to make dialysis-friendly cooking easy, fun, and delicious. We work with patients who have restricted diets to develop meal plans that meet their nutritional needs, but also taste good and are satisfying. We have found that keeping things simple is best, so we focus on recipes that only require a few ingredients and minimal preparation.

FMCNA dietitians meet with all of the patients at their clinic at least once a month, and many patients will consult with us on a weekly basis. We look at their lab work, protein stores, weight, exercise level, and other variables, and then create a meal plan that is appropriate for their condition. It's very important that CKD patients have the right mix of vitamins and minerals, and restrict their fluid intake so they will have good dialysis results.

FMCNA recently partnered with celebrity Chef McCargo to promote healthy diets that include tasty meals with plenty of bold flavors so people with kidney failure and their families will be excited about cooking and eating.

Patch: What are some of the most popular recipes?

McCoy: Our website, www.ultracare-dialysis.com features several recipes created by our dietitians and Chef McCargo. Most recently, he has created a holiday dessert recipe, Apple-Stuffed Cinnamon Bundles, which is available on the site. It also features a video of Chef McCargo preparing his Crunchy Lemon Herbed Chicken for the dialysis diet. We will be releasing more recipes throughout the year, which will be available at www.ultracare-dialysis.com.

Patch: Why is the company important to communities like Carrollwood and Northdale?

McCoy: CKD affects an ever-growing population, and when it progresses to end stage renal disease (ESRD), there are only two treatments available: a kidney transplant or dialysis. More than 380,000 Americans are on dialysis, and over 22,000 of these patients live in Florida, so it is certainly an important issue in the community. Since we have many patients in the area, people know about our clinic, and are also more aware of CKD and its symptoms. So if they are diagnosed, they know there is a facility nearby where they can receive treatments.

For more information on the clinic or for recipes, go to www.ultracare-dialysis.com.

FMCNA has a total of 10 clinics within a 25-mile radius of Carrollwood, which gives patients convenient dialysis locations and helps serve the growing dialysis community. Our company offers the latest in dialysis services, including home and in-center nighttime dialysis programs, as well as traditional in-center daytime dialysis.