Teachers and kidneys
Poem for teachers
THIS poem is dedicated to all the wonderful teachers in Fiji and the world on World Teachers Day on October 5, 2020.
Transforming lives to think critically with fortitude
Empowering students with knowledge, skills and attitude Articulating lessons with efficacy and passion
Comforting students in distress and confusion
Helping discover talents to overcome all challenge
Embracing changes to learn new skills and knowledge Resourcefully reimagining the future of the nation
Striving for excellence and progress their mission
BHAGWANJI BHINDI
Nasinu
Dialysis hookup
AS a kidney patient now requiring hemodialysis I stand amazed at the whole process. In all truth, I had only seen something similar in movies that involved aliens!
Now dependent on a machine to remove excess waste products from my blood, my first experience was certainly mind-boggling and it took some nerves to get through the initial phase.
For those that don’t know the procedure, there are two options available to gain access between your blood and a machine. Both begins with surgery to either install a catheter access tube in a large vein that sits on your chest below your neckline or to have an AV Fistular which works from the lower arm by joining an artery to a vein. I chose the catheter and I now have two tubes hanging from my chest on a permanent basis. These tubes form the access to connect me to the dialysis machine during treatment.
My first impression of walking into the clinic where patients were receiving treatment, felt like walking on to the deck of a spaceship where people were hooked up to machines ready to take a long journey into space. Each dialysis machine had a reclining chair and patients lay comfortably with tubes connected to either their hand or chest. The beeping sounds and alarms and the many tubes with blood flowing through them was quite a daunting sight and one that I had to get used to quickly. After the introductory dialysis sessions are over, each dialysis session takes approximately four hours a time with technicians taking readings and monitoring vitals on a regular basis. The humming sounds of the machine pumping blood to and from my body and the bodily sensations is quite intimidating for a beginner like me.
On the other hand, walking into the clinic is also like walking into a kidney hotel with patients checking in and out on a regular basis, some for a matter of years, making opening that clinic door for the very first time feel like opening the door to your own home and experiencing all the emotions that goes with being home. The kidney clinic is indeed a family affair as everyone can’t help but get familiar with each other as they meet on a weekly basis for treatment that can stretch into years.
So basically, being on a machine is like topping up fuel for your vehicle at a depot where your vehicle can’t operate without its source of energy. As for us kidney patients, we hook up to a machine that acts as our kidneys to filter our blood of life-threatening waste products every two-three days and without this machine, we wouldn’t survive.
While I am grateful lo be given a second chance at life by being able to receive dialysis treatment, I would like to remind everyone to take good care of your kidneys so that you don’t find yourself having to depend on a machine to keep you alive.
Stay hydrated with water, exercise, eat an 80 per cent alkaline diet, discard harmful habits and be temperate with all good ones!
Or be an alien!
SIMON HAZELMAN
Rava Estate, Savusavu