Bob's Blog Saturday 4-18-09

Bob Here

Every once in a while, it strikes me how important it is to know your stuff.

In dialysis and in life.

That doesn’t mean that other times, I just walk around in a fog, looking like I need to be watered twice a week.

It’s just that sometimes it amazes me how much of a difference it can make to understand definitions and the facts surrounding our treatments.

When I first started on dialysis, many moons ago, a doctor came by for his routine check while I was on the machine and said that my Kt/V was out of whack.

After blinking my eyes a couple of thousand times, the most brilliant response I could come up with was,

“Huh?”

You see, I was caught unawares, and didn’t react with my usual aplomb.

Normally, I can at least respond with a smart-ass comment or lame joke.

One time, a while back, an attendant asked me if I was aware that my PTH had run a little high lately.

I didn’t completely know what that meant, so I spouted off a phrase in French.

Now, I hadn’t taken French since high school, and strictly translated, the words were nonsense, something like,

“I want to re-build your grandmother’s shoes. “

But, of course the attendant didn’t know any French, so after repeating the question a few times and getting the same tricked-out, broken French answer, she just gave up, figuring the conversation was going nowhere. She just walked away, shaking her head.

But, getting back to the doctor, once I understood that Kt/V wasn’t a local radio station, but was an important reading, I was able to know what I needed to do to make it better, and it really hasn’t been a problem since.

After that, I made it a point to become familiar with as many dialysis-related definitions as possible to keep the instances of being caught unawares to a minimum.

Do you all know what I mean?

Of course, knowing your stuff is important in business as well, which was made apparent to me early in my career.

I was a young analyst at another company and the VP in charge of our area was making an unannounced tour.

He was a serious type. Very dour in his approach. No hint of a personality.

Then my colleagues and I realized to our horror that he was grilling people, asking detailed questions as part of his review.

We strongly considered asking for early retirement, or cutting through the red tape and just run screaming from the building.

Anyway, we stayed put and when he got to me he said, “Do you know your division’s profit goals?”

I had a wild impulse to say, “No, but if you hum a few bars…”

But, with that thought of professional suicide contained, I rattled off some numbers that were right enough that he didn’t suggest that I find another line of work.

Before he left, he leaned over and said, “Good, if you know ‘em, it’s easier to make ‘em.”

I think the old coot was onto something.

Understanding your targets in business really does help you stay balanced in your approach and helps you prioritize your work efforts. It’s really become a fundamental learning that I’ve helped pass on to future generations.

Understanding the details of our treatments is a definite plus, as well.

Back to when I first started the Big D, I was in a bit of denial and didn’t want to hear any details.

My tendency to use my sometimes sick sense of humor to deflect the tension didn’t sit well with some of the medical professionals.

I remember a nurse coming into my room telling me I was going to have some test that I didn’t know anything about and told me to strip everything off including my underwear.

I said, “Gee, aren’t we going to have dinner first?”

She definitely didn’t see the humor.

Later, the nutritionist came in and spent what seemed like an eternity talking about fluid restriction. I wasn’t exactly a receptive audience.

Finally, I got tired of the whole scene, and started choking, gasping for air and signaling that I needed some water.

So, in a near panic, she rushed a cup of water over to me.

Of course, I was pretending the whole time, and I stopped and said, “You really shouldn’t be forcing water on me while you’re teaching me about fluid restrictions.”

That day, I took a peek at my chart and it had a blurb on there that said, “Difficult Patient.”

I can’t imagine what made them say that.

But I came to understand that the more you knew about the details of what is, after all, a very complex treatment, the better off you were going to be.

Hmmm, maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

So, learn your stuff, it will benefit you in the long run.

Thanks for reading.

I hope everyone has a good week of treatments.

Stay Active and Take care.