This may look like a regular 17', but inside is a custom layout to accomodate a special mobile Dialysis machine.
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17’(tandem)
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Length
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17’6”
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Interior Height
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6’4”
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Exterior Width
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6’6”
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Exterior Height
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8’4”
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GVWR (pounds)
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3300
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Dry Gross Weight (pounds)
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1450
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Load Capacity (pounds)
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1850
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Dry Hitch Weight (pounds)
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130
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Dry Axle Weight (pounds)
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1270
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Tire Size
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175R13
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Sleeps
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6 or 7
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Electric Brakes
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Yes
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The owner of this unit was featured on the front page of September 29 Issue of The Orillia Packet & Times.
FREE AT LAST
Custom-designed trailer allows woman to get dialysis on the road
By Teviah Moro The Packet & Times
The tall trees and shimmering lake that embrace an Orillia couple's cottage just outside Gravenhurst is a picture of tranquility.
"This cottage has been our salvation," said Carole Evans.
It's the kind of life Evans and her husband, Leo Traarbach, both 61, dreamed about before retiring.
They spend lots of timeat their Loon Lake cooage and also like to travel - two relatively normal activities for empty-nesters that until very recently weren't possible.
A fancy, custom-made trailer changed that.
"You are looking at Carole's Kidney right there," Evans siad referring to the 17-foot trailer parked in front of the cottage.
It was specially designed to accommodate a dialysis machine and other equipment that Evans depends on for her survival.
Evans has had systemic lupus since 1980.
The trailer has made it possible for her and Traarbach to travel again without having to worry about missing hemodialysis treatments.
Designed by Brad Taylor of Tracy's RV Centre in Millgrove Ontario, the trailer cost about $25,000.
Inside Evans' dialysis machine sits on a platform over the wheel well and is tied in place with ropes.
An easy chair sits next to it so Evans can lean back and hook up the machine to a catheter implanted just below her neck.
The treatments take about eight hours every other night. A television, refrigerator and toilet are all within reach, making those times more comfortable.
Traarbach, a semi-retired systems analyst, knows all the machine's bells and whistles like the back of his hand.
The trailer has been a god-send, allowing the couple to travel stress-free after a five year drought.
"We're basically back to having a normal life," Traarbach said.
They recently took a 16 day road trip through Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, likely making Evans the first Canadian to receive hemodialysis on the road.
"That was liberation. It was a celebration," she said.
Life before the trailer meant Evans couldn't be away from her homefor more than two days, making her fell as though the disease had "shackled" her.
Evans' kidneys became worse about six years ago.
The ex-teacher managed to get into a training program at Humber River Regional Hospital in Toronto so she and Traarbach could learn how to operate a dialysis machine.
Shortly after that, the idea of Carole's Kidney was born.
With the help and approval of Dr. Andreas Pierratos and his staff at Humber, the couple's idea of travelling with a dialysis machine became a reality.
"We've proved it's quite possible to do dialysis on the road," said Traarbach.
Now, the couple can visit their children and grandchildren, dispersed across Ontario and Canada, witht the trailer.
In April, they hope to visit Evan's mother in Kelowna, B.C.