A Brief History of Me

jwaynebo

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A Brief History of Me

« on: October 18, 2008, 09:01:20 PM »

Hello All,

My name is Jeffrey. I grew up in a small town in central Illinois where I now live.

I have most recently been on dialysis six years.

Prior to that I was born in 1965 with hypo-plastic kidneys (they didn't develop enough to work properly). Because of this, I wasn't expected to live much longer after my diagnosis because nephrology then was still somewhere between its infant and toddler stages.

So much of my infant and childhood years were spent bouncing between hospitals where I was studied and experimented on until finally the dialysis machine was invented and I was given new hope when my family learned that I might benefit someday from a transplant.

So sometime in the Spring or early Summer of 1977 at the young age of 11½ years old I was put on dialysis.

On January 16, 1980 while sleeping through a film in History class in the Eighth Grade, I received the call for a Kidney Transplant.

This new kidney lasted 22 good years until 2002 when it died peacefully in its sleep, and I was placed back on dialysis where I now reside at the young age of 43 years old.

Two of the nurses from that era in my life are at my new dialysis center today. The male LPN, even when I was a child, liked to play clown and make people laugh. He hasn't stopped doing that after more than 30 years. We get along very well. Whenever I need to sound off, he always has a sympathetic ear. He works for the patients and not for the "Corporation" which in this case is Davita.

When I was a child, each patient was assigned two nurses. Patients could always count on seeing one or both nurses at each treatment. It was very rare for a new face to pop up and say, "I will be your nurse for the day or week."

Today, the only time some patients actually get the benefit of a nurse's help is when they need their heparin pushed, meds dispensed, or they are in some kind of distress.

However, I am extremely grateful for the techs with whom I have had the intense pleasure of benefiting from their own brand of skilled "nursing" care.

Besides my favorite RN and LPN for whom I always thank God, some of the techs at my center have often helped me turn a potentially bad day into a less bad day.

These techs are priceless and I thank God for them too.

Of course in the long run, I thank God for everyone who devote their lives to taking care of people who need specialized long-term care.

This however doesn't mean I don't have complaints. While I love and applaud the efforts of my caregivers, I do find it difficult to get along sometimes when a member of staff behaves unprofessionally or insensitively toward me or another patient who just needs a little extra care, or at least some respect.

Anyway, I look forward to meeting everyone. I hope I might be able to make a positive contribution to this community.


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Peace,

Jeffrey

"I'm pullin' for ya, We're all in this together." - Red Green

jessup

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