Coping with kidney dialysis: If walls could talk

Coping with kidney dialysis: If walls could talk

BY ERIN RYAN - eryan@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 04/12/08

On a steep blue summit of magnetic paint, 26-year-old Adan Reyes was carving it up on his cartoon snowboard. He also was across the room in his dialysis chair, letting a machine do the work his body no longer can.

Reyes has chronic kidney disease. Along with 94 other patients, he spends about 12 hours a week at Boise's DaVita Table Rock Dialysis Center getting his blood cleaned and cycled back into his veins. Kidney failure, commonly caused by diabetes or high blood pressure, leaves them unable to process waste, toxins and extra fluid, and without constant treatment or a transplant, the condition is ultimately fatal.

But last Friday, the dialysis room was full of laughter and applause as its brand new Wall of Fame was unveiled. The wall is part of a nationwide initiative by the DaVita company to enhance the sense of community in its more than 1,300 outpatient facilities and 700 acute hospital units in 43 states. Patients and their caregivers spend a lot of time together working toward wellness goals, and DaVita Table Rock is celebrating that bond in pictures and a few well-chosen words.

The in-home program took top honors in last year's national Wall of Fame contest for a colorful Boise River scene with patients and their aides on rafts, tubes and jet skis. The in-center program's answer for 2008 features a rendering of Bogus Basin mobbed with skiers, boarders, sledders and snowmobilers. Below each face is a bit of trivia, from favorite colors and foods to careers, memories and inspirations.

One individual likes the Grand Ole Opry and steak from Sizzler. Another once met and shook hands with Babe Ruth. Tumbling tumbleweed, navy bean soup and Mark Twain are mentioned, providing a glimpse into the minds of patients who are between the ages of 16 and 86, male and female, bank clerks, sheet rockers, lawyers, car salesmen, mechanics, teachers, dairy farmers and students.

"The goal behind it is to try to get the staff and patients involved in something fun, that they can be proud of and look forward to instead of just a medical procedure," said Laura Root, a clinical social worker who has been at the facility for 6 years. "Depending where they sit, some of them have been able to see the progression for a couple months. I've heard a lot of compliments."

Root primarily helps patients deal with the psychosocial effects of kidney disease, including depression. They often feel sick due to systemic complications, and remedies can be tedious and exhausting. While a lot of patients sleep or watch TV during a typical 4-hour hemodialysis treatment, there are those who keep busy with books, crafts or conversation. Root said they get to know each other and the staff really well over months and years, and she hopes the Wall of Fame will be one more reason for them to think positive.

"A person can just exist or have a quality of life, and that's what we try to help them achieve," she said. "It's a very serious and difficult disease to live with, so anything we can do around here to make it an environment that's more fun and enjoyable is great."

"One patient in his 80s who lives up in McCall said he enjoys coming down and looking at the wall because it brings joy," added Jennifer Richardson, a home nurse and the artistic mastermind behind both walls. "When I first heard about the project I was really skeptical ... Then I realized what an impact it did make on our patients and that it actually is an integrated part of their care."

DaVita Table Rock had to get 75 percent participation from their patients to enter the 2008 wall in the national contest. Facility administrator Dana Camacho said it was a hard sell at first, but as the image took shape, more and more patients wanted to be part of it.

Reyes was game from the start. His Wall of Fame placard includes the axiom, "Live each day as if it was your last," and he has been doing that since he was struck with kidney disease at 16, rolling with the punches through one failed transplant and the promise of another from his younger sister next year. Rather than give in to the struggle, he has learned everything he can about what is happening inside his body and the machine helping it function. He strictly regulates his diet and exercises daily, even right after treatment.

"I'm not going to let this kidney stop me from doing what I love," he said.

In addition to playing sports and lifting weights, Reyes is pursuing a degree in social work at Boise State while working as a supervisor at Hertz. Root said kidney disease can become an all-consuming affliction if you let it, but Reyes is young and tenacious. He credited the support of friends and loved ones and called the center staff his second family. And the wall? He's surprised it looks so good, though he is living his life with as much spunk as his miniature double.

"I'm not afraid of this. It's part of my life," he said, "and life is too precious to be sitting down not enjoying it."

Erin Ryan: 672-6732

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/349667.html