As Eric approaches , there’s a piercing alarming sound scattering across the treatment floor……….BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!!!!!!……. AW’s eyes are as big as the coyote in the roadrunner cartoon… as she voices, “ Now what is that noise?” , “ Sheesh it’s a lot of commotion going on here but that sound by far is the loudest I’ve ever heard. It sounds like a siren. Dwelyn , should I be worried? “ No AW , Eric is going to see what that alarm is and he will be right back. In the meantime while I was in the back, what did you do ? AW replies ,” Well I did meet Mrs. Aonani, she’s very nice. I noticed she was leaving away from this place. Was she here earlier? I replied,” Why yes AW , she is on our first shift. “ First shift of what? Lol , our first shift of patients. You’re on second shift and we have one more shift after you. So Dwelyn let me get this straight. The time now is a little after 10am, my treatment time is 3.5 hours, how long have I been on this machine? “ Let me look into the Trends screen to show you approximately how long you been on and what exact time you get off. It says here I initiated your treatment at 09:20, I got you on 5 minutes late. You’re scheduled to come off the machine around 12:50, so you’ve been on about 45mins.!” ,” That machine tells you all of that??” , Well AW it tells us a whole lot more, but we will get into that a lil later. “, AW replies,” Okay, so as I was saying , it’s after 10:00 am, I have a couple hours to go . I should be done by 13:00 , correct? “ Yes, but before I take you off the machine , I have to make sure my documentation is correct and your vital signs are stable. Give you your blood back, and once I remove your needles , you then must hold your site where the hole is for about 10-15 mins each. Per our policy, we have to pull the needles one at a time. Then……. we just hope you don’t have prolonged bleeding. “ , “ Sheesh man that sounds like a lot . So anyway , Mrs.Aonani had to go through all of that earlier this morning?”, Yes she did. She was sitting over in POD Hawaii. “ So Dwelyn what time did she get here this morning? “ Mrs.Aonani arrived here at 05:00 am…. “ Wooooo!!!! Baby shut your mouth!!” So ….. I hate to be So So’ing you to death , but what time did you get here this morning ?” Well AW I got here at 03:30am…… “ Mon Ju Muss Be Joking!”( “ Man you must be joking!”Her Jamaican accent is deep) . “ Why so early dear boy?” , You be getting no rest at night , ah?!?!”” “ Oh my!!”” . “ Well when Eric comes back he can explain more in detail about why my other teammates or myself have to come in a little more earlier than our patients, but I will say the process that takes place in our RO or as we say Water Room ,is very important and a major key factor of your dialysis treatment as well as others .
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!( machine alarming) ,” Be careful AW and try not to bend your arm while you’re dialyzing. It could cause an infiltration to your access and prolong your time. “, Oh I apologize Dwelyn , but I just remembered I happened to have my iPad in my bag along with my blanket and pillow. Im so glad I have my Air Pods to enjoy my music. You know my son bought me these thangs and I have to admit, they come in handy…..Man , it’s cold in here. Brrrrrrrrrr! Would you mind getting those things for me , please?” “ Sure thing AW. Maybe this will help you kid of pass some time away. Not to mention we have FREE WiFi here so you actually could look at our website online to further educate yourself about Hemodiaysis, Diabetes, Vascular Access, Peritoneal Dialysis, Transplant , etc…. “ It’s very important to educate yourself about all aspects of your care. And remember Anthony will be back shortly to explain the importance of labs. While we are waiting, let’s log onto our website KidneyTrails.com and you will see what our facility has to offer as far as education. We also publish life stories as well. After all in the World of Dialysis , we all have a story to tell. Let’s start with the Anatomy of the Kidney . We can pull up a diagram of a kidney where it will show you it’s shape and form, it’s major function and it’s major role. “ Great Dwelyn , but what’s the Wifi code and password? ,” Oh, oops I’m sorry AW…… it’s ProteinOfKnowledge as the code , and Feb31946! is the password.
“Let’s scroll to the topic of Kidneys. This is the most important cleaning system or as we would say the filtering system for your body. Their are 5 major jobs that your kidneys do. Five Alive as we like to say here…1) your kidneys remove waste from blood as well as the toxins, also excess fluid. In which they balance out fluid levels and maintain chemical balance. 2)your kidneys also make hormones that are throughout your body called erythropoietin. 3)Control your blood pressure. 4)Control pH levels. And 5) Your kidneys keep your bones healthy. ,” Wow I never knew my kidneys played a major role for our bodies Dwelyn!” , “ This is a major eye opener!”
Take look here at this diagram of your kidney. These are considered your Balanced Beans. “ Ha Ha ,” Dwelyn I like that name. “ Well there’s an official website called thebalancedbeans.com where you can also look and read different stories about others in the Renal Community….. So, as I was saying, your Balanced Beans are made up of three regions…. The Cortex, The Medulla, and your Renal Pelvis…..” Dwelyn , The Who , da who and da what?”” ….LOL… Okay as you can see in the diagram of how your kidneys are shaped let me try to explain to you….. Look at both of my hands as I make a fist… ( As I make a fist with both of my hands. I hold them up in front of me as I’m giving myself a fist bump right hand to left forming a shape of the letter P one way a the letter P backwards , wrist are slightly curved with my elbows slightly joining. What I basically tried to show AW were two kidneys attached to ureters) …. “ My fist are the kidneys, your kidneys are the same size as our fist. The outside of my fist is the Cortex ( ) as I open my hand firmly the inside of my hand along my inner fingertips is the Medulla () the lines within my palms are considered my Renal Pyramids() , as following my wrist are my Ureters() and,,,, “ Whoooooa Dwelyn, I kinda get what your trying to describe. I like that demonstration and it’s kinda making sense to me as far as the anatomy. “ AW, We can talk about your Renal Veins and Renal Artery later when we discuss the relationship between your Kidneys and your Heart.. I don’t wanna confuse you !” “ Well Dwelyn , you kinda did that already , but please continue LOL..
Oh wait, here comes Eric. We will continue to talk about Anatomy later, I have to go take off another patient in The Cuba 🇨🇺 Pod and put on another here in the Jamaica 🇯🇲 …. I’ll be back.
To Be Continued………
Kidney Trails 