Kidney Trails

Let me take you back to the beginning of this story….. Well actually before the beginning of AW’s treatment. Wooooo it’s kinda chilly 🥶 outside . Who would’ve thought it gets cold in Phoenix, Arizona?” Any how , I pulled up to our clinic at 3:00 am due to me being the opener to the clinic….. Before I step out my car , I take a moment of silence as I prepare mentally,physically , and emotionally for my work day. You see, as a Dialysis Technician a lot goes through our head as we continue with our profession day in and day out………. “Can you relate?”……. I get out my car with my bags that consist of training manuals, IPad , and my lunch….. Well it’s gonna be a 14 plus hour day so I have my breakfast lunch and dinner. I arrive to the back building door as I’m in a stance of the Calm before the Storm…… I open the door, disarm the alarm code to the building 08071977*….. Put in my EarPods 🎧 as a listen to “ A Mastermind by Nas”……. I have to set my mood and get into my vibe……. “Can you relate?”……. I walk hesitantly but determined through our stock room of endless boxes to my right, and the view of the treatment floor to my left. I noticed through the small glass window , closely to the topi see a red light …… It’s the water alarm 🚨 from the back in the RO( Reverse Osmosis) / Water Room as we call it. I turn to the right walking past more boxes, approach the secured door to the water room, music still playing….. Punching my code D1208!…… As I open the door to the water room …….The emense loud overpowering sound of the RO system running taking its course almost silencing my music…..I relieve the alarms by punching in the disengaged code to silence the system D51318$…… Now it’s just the sound of water flushing down the drain……. I hit the button to my left adjacent behind the RO system to silence the alarm that’s alerted out on the treatment floor. As the song “ A Mastermind “ continues to play , I also continue my vibe. I exit the water room to approach the hallway where we clock in and also is where we have our lockers in place. I open my locker, grab my stethoscope , name badge ……..(KidneyTrails Dialysis Clinic)“ Dwelyn Williams, CCHT/ Preceptor Level III”…. and a few pins to place in my pocket……. I’m almost ready …. I take a glance at a motivational saying above the lockers , and it’s quoted ( “ You Can’t Go Back and change the beginning, But You Can Start Where You are and Change the Beginning”) I Felt That….. Clocked in at 03:10…. Approach the break room , drink my filtered water as I’m tossing it back like no tomorrow. I’m feeling refreshed with taking that deep breath after I’m replenished with fluids………. “Can you relate?”…….. As I’m feeling refreshed I look to my right and I see another quote on the wall that’s caused me to reflect on myself (“ I’ve learned that people will forget what you SAID….. People will forget what you DID……But people will never forget how you made them FEEL…..”) I Felt That ……..I close the door to the refrigerator, three steps away I pause and look to my right in the far end corner of the room……… staring with grace and assurance. The quote is stated “( Things To Remember….Tomorrow is a New Day, Making mistakes is apart of Life, Saying no is okay, Not EVERYONE has to like you, Beauty and Strength come from within.)……Man , I Felt That……. out of the break room I go. As the door closes behind me….. “A Mastermind “ the song that’s playing come to an end. This door that I’m about to enter into the treatment floor is symbolic to the feeling that is expressed as The Moment of Truth…. before I turn the door knob to get IT started ….. I slowly turn to my right and on the wall to my right , I say out loud to myself as if the Bold letters on the wall came with a Bluetooth speaker 🔈 (“ THE PAIN YOU FEEL TODAY WILL BE THE STRENGTH YOU FEEL TOMORROW)” …… goosebumps arise ….. “ Tell me that you didn’t Feel That?!?!”…… I Felt That ….Can You Relate?…… Looking through the small glass window as I’m turning the knob and opening the door , I read …….( When you feel like Quitting, think about why you Started)…… I Felt That…… My spirit specifically defines that quitting isn’t an option…. Let’s do this , as I say to myself…… My next song that’s on my rotation is “ Moves by Big Sean”…….. As I walk onto the treatment floor, jamming to my sounds, only one in the building as we speak , it’s now 3:15….. Time is of the Essence in the Dialysis World and the clock is never on our side. An Endless Race to be exact. My walking pace has shifted as if I went from park to 50 miles per hour …… I walk to the sink to wash my hands, ( 60 seconds/ 1 minute)…. Take my temperature 🤒 for a a minute ( 96.8) document on the tracking sheet, mask is 😷 on , sanitize my hands, takes a deep breath…….sigh……. Gears shifted. I’m speed walking through the clinic. It doesn’t matter because I have my peace and serenity while listening to my jam “ Moves” is blasting away in my head from my EarPods 🎧 and I’m On A Roll( Role)…. I start off one by one of all 30 machines to cut the power on, making full circle around the entire treatment floor, machines are alarming as I cut them on…. Once all 30 machines are on , I double back to the first machine I turned on , and now I place them in the Rinse cycle….. as I hear water trickle behind the machine in the wall box, and positioning the machines and chairs to the comfort of each patient and myself so I can prime and setup. I grab a bleach test strip to test for chlorine. I’m still jamming…… I’m in my Zone…….” Can You Relate?” ……this is what’s happening as I’m zooming throughout the treatment floor…. Machines lighting up, warming up, shifting their own internal gears, blinking, processing themselves….. You know machines have to wake up too…. Lol…. I’m settling blue pads out or chucks if you may call it, I’m setting out , 10cc syringes, 15g needles, 16g needles, 14g needles, 2K2.5Ca baths, 3K3Ca baths,2K2.0Ca baths, Cvc catheter packs, a special 210 Dialyzer, a 165 Dialyzer, labs to be drawn, alcohol wipes, gauze, tape, I walk to the medication table , wipe down the station with a disinfectant wipe to draw up the heparin for each individual patient . I travel back to the water room to fill up the Bicarb Tank with RO water, I test the RO tank for chlorine and chloramines, I turn on the sample ports so they can run for 20 minutes…. Did I mention it’s now 3:45?….. I head back to the treatment floor to prime as many machines as I can. It’s now 4:15….. I gotta hurry back to the RO room to pour the Bicarbonate into the mix tank for a mixture time of 15mins…… Can’t over mix bicarbonate because that’s cause CO2….. Back to the treatment floor I go. Setting up more machines….. I hear the machines running. To a room that was once quiet, is now starting to come alive…….. Can You Relate?……I return back to the RO room….. Did I mention each time I enter the RO room I have to put in my code? 🤪…… Bicarbonate is done . It’s approximately 04:30….. Our first patient treatment initiation is in an hour…… Where is my other teammate? Man I hope nobody called out!!””” Anyway I gotta keep moving. I replay the quotes I read this morning in the back of my mind. “ I gotta keep going!” As I say to myself….. Next song on rotation is On Our Own by Bobby Brown, followed by Rockstar by DaBaby, I Like It by Enrique Iglesias, TKO by Justin Timberlake, as so forth…… Music derived the soul and this treatment floor is my concert stage and I Am The DJ……… “Can You Relate?”…..I check the conductivity and ph of my Bicarb. Ranges are good. I head back out to the treatment floor, it’s 04:35….. I finish priming and setting up more machines and I look over and see my other teammate Dicyn who arrived. And also setting up machines as well.Okay that’s one other person. Sheesh man……. Machines are warming up more. Conductivity and temperature on the machines are up to par……All of the Kidney Trails Dialysis Crew ( Dicyn,Denym,Ashley,Juan,and myself) is here, except one other person. That’s okay….. It happens..I announce to my team “ Bicarb Ready!” As we all give each other the thumbs up. Click click , beep beep, alarms sounding , phone ringing, door bell ringing , lights that were once dim are bright fluorescent . Oh it’s almost time. Our nurse has arrived as she prepares her meds , calibrate the glucometer, check the temperature for the medication refrigerator, check the crash cart, views the patient’s schedule, daily report, making phone calls to see if their are any hospitalizations, checking for updates to the lab results, etc……it’s 0515 now……… A Deep sigh has been taken…… Pulse is tacky. Breathe……. Take a minute or two for self reflection. Today will, I repeat WILL be a good day. I’m gowned up, face shield on, stethoscope around my neck, I’m gloved up. We Are Ready as all the Team has arrived. Standing behind me…… We open the door to the lobby and greet our patients …” Great KidneyTrails Morning!” Lets make this happen………

Since the time I started this morning, without knowing. AW was looking at me the whole time through the outside window. I told you she was observant. Guess she wanted to see what she was getting into. I guess what was going through her head was….” I Don’t Know About This?”………. Can YOU Relate?

To Be Continued………