The gift of life
BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
By Orpheus Allison
When beginning dialysis treatment there is an adjustment period as one gets fitted with access ports and fistulas. While this is going on the patient is told of the death of the kidneys and options for the next steps.
Governmental language is not pleasant as it labels the problem as End Stage Renal Disease. The operative word here is End. The time for that final breath is unknown. It could be one month or 30 years. Lots of time and comfort are spent consoling the new patient as befits a person about to leave. Thanks to advances in a variety of fields the possibility of transplant is discussed.
Transplanting an organ is complex, involving several dozen different people and procedures. Because each organ is the only one in the body a transplant means that someone else has bid adieu to the world. Kidneys were early candidates for transplant because every person has two. You only need one that works to have a very normal life. Transplantation is the only cure for End Stage Kidney disease.
If fear of needles guides your life, dialysis is not a treatment to be welcomed. Needles of all sizes are used at various stages of treatment. The smallest delivering necessary medicines and the largest to help remove and replace the blood. One soon forgets such fear when these procedures are part of a regimen that marks the life of the patient. One needle for output and one needle for input to begin. Pain is just part of the work and the nurses do their best to mitigate it so that no person suffers.
Donations of tissue for life-saving operations struggle to meet demand. For many patients there will be no transplant. Factors such as age, overall health, location, and life story influence the chance for a transplant. Yet in dialysis the hope is there that one can get a new kidney. The chance to drink and eat with little worry about voiding those fluids in a timely fashion dot the dreamscape. It is a new lease on life for the patient.
Monday morning one patient took his last dialysis treatment. Arriving early, A*** was hooked to the machine for one last time. As soon as the process was complete he would be off to get the most precious gift he could ever get: a new kidney. All went well and A*** left the clinic for the long trip to Portland. Patients and nurses wished him all the success that can come from such a simple gift.
A*** received a kidney from his wife. Luck was with him that day as it is a challenge to find compatible donors. Being tested showed that his loving wife was a very compatible donor and after much work the operations were scheduled. Success!
A*** and wife are doing well. He is up and around hours after recovering from the procedure. Overjoyed that he can begin to relearn the pleasures of passing water, toxins, and time in the real world. His wife is doing well though lagging just a bit from the procedure, not unexpectedly, thrilled that her true love has a new lease on life.
Christmas does come to us all at some point. The chance to see another sunrise, hold more new grandchildren and taste the lips of the best friend for life he will have. Yes, there is a Santa Claus.
Sharing unselfishly that gift of life is a precious endowment. A***, best wishes for a blessed future for you and your wife. There is still much to share with this world and for that all are grateful.
Many families in the coming year will confront this issue. It is not an easy decision. Helping others to live and continue the joy of living is one of the most unselfish, honest gifts that can be given. There are tissue registries which will see if there is a match out there. The idea is that this one gift brings joy and life to another.
Merry Christmas A*** and your dear blessed wife. Merry Christmas to all.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After 20 years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
