Altermease Lewis has been doing this for 29 years... four hours at a time, three days a week, hooked up to a dialysis machine to remove the fluids and waste from her blood stream.

"To me it's not that hard, a lot of people say it's hard, but it's not that hard for me. I just get up every morning I'm supposed to come, get dressed and come on, think nothing of it."

Monday, November 24th, was a special day, a special plaque for her achievement.

The Fresenius Medical Care Clinical Manager says a decade on dialysis is common, two decades is a milestone... and lewis is something far more.

Sixty nine year old Lewis says she was scared at first, going on dialysis because of hypertension when she was 40, a single mom with 3 kids, including a 6- month old.

Hip- replacement surgery has forced her to bed for now but she'll be back Wednesday, November 26th, so she can spend the holiday with her family.

Kimberly Justus says better prevention and awareness by doctors is keeping most people from needing dialysis until they are much older.

The two biggest causes of kidney failure remain diabetes and hypertension.