Man, undergoing dialysis treatments for more than 20 years

Healthy attitude
Man, undergoing dialysis treatments for more than 20 years, has never missed a session

By Jessica Langdon/Times Record News

Friday, April 18, 2008

Paul Harris was a young man just ending his time in the U.S. Air Force when he ended up embarking on a path he never imagined, but one that has been part of his life for decades whether he liked it or not.

“They found my kidney problem on my discharge physical from the Air Force 49 years ago this year,” said Harris, who lives in Wichita Falls.

Dialysis has been a regular part of his life for more than 20 years, and he doesn’t miss a session — never has. His health and life depend on it, and he’s not taking any chances.

Although the diagnosis came in the late 1950s, Harris, now 72, didn’t have to go on dialysis until 1971.

As he waited to go on dialysis in Dallas, he couldn’t eat, and he got by for several days eating only bundles of peppermint sticks and peach halves. His eye was swollen shut.

His dad lived in Archer City, and when he went to visit Harris in the hospital, he told his son, “‘Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll have old Lunn (as in Lunn’s Funeral Home) come down and pick you up,’” and he said he would make sure Harris was placed right next to his mother, Harris remembered.

Other plans were in store for Harris, though.

He started six-hour dialysis treatments and went through those three times a week for nearly three years at the veterans’ hospital in Dallas.

Then he got his first transplant.

“Within probably six months to a year, I felt just as good as I ever did,” he said. He was as active as he had ever been.

“That transplant lasted until 1985,” he said. “Then it just gradually started deteriorating.”

That year, he had another transplant at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

“It lasted a week,” he said. “Then I had to go back on dialysis. I’ve been on dialysis ever since.”

July will mark the start of his 24th year.

Harris managed to work full time — he did engineering work at an industrial air conditioner manufacturer — and also did some ranching north of Dallas.

Basically, dialysis was like a third job for him. That’s how Sherry Harrington, a Fresenius Medical Social Worker in Wichita Falls, put it.

Fresenius Medical Care provides services and products for people on dialysis because of chronic kidney failure. That condition affects more than 1.5 million people around the world.

Harrington has found Harris, who undergoes dialysis three times a week at Fresenius Medical Care of North Texas Dialysis Center, to be an inspiration to people who face this type of treatment. Some people view dialysis as doomsday, she said, and Harris is one who shows that it doesn’t have to be.

She asked him this week how much he thinks is attitude, and he said it has to be about 90 percent. He credits some of his health to having had transplants in the past, but by following recommendations and sticking to his routine, he stays on top of it.

For one thing, he has to avoid foods that are high in phosphorus. While the treatment filters out most materials that have built up in his blood, it doesn’t take out phosphorus. Foods high in phosphorous include beans and cheese, Harrington said.

“Cornbread,” Harris added. Many soft drinks and dairy products are off limits, and people who depend on dialysis also have to be careful with potatoes. Eating those generally involves boiling them first and getting rid of the water, which can reduce the phosphorous content.

Potassium — found in foods such as orange juice, bananas and avocados — is another thing to watch.

Dialysis has changed a lot over the years.

“It’s completely different. The machines are much more sophisticated,” Harris said. When he goes for treatment, he weighs in, and that data goes into the machine. The machine then takes into account the fluid that has built up since the last time and removes it.

When Harris underwent dialysis in the 1970s, “the dialysis machine was about the size of a washing machine,” he said. Today, the machines are a lot smaller. There are also more of them available, and that means more people are able to have the treatments that can prolong their lives.

The dialyzer, which is a cylinder that takes out impurities, is also small, Harrington said, showing a small cylinder with her fingers.

At Fresenius Medical Care, patients have their own dialyzers, she said.

Harris remembers the days when one dialysis treatment required two registered nurses. It’s less labor intensive now. Technicians are there as well as nurses, but it’s a lot different today. Visitors are even allowed to be there once a patient is on the machine.

His sessions years ago took six hours apiece. These days, he’s spending four hours at each one.

He takes the time to catch up on sleep. He used to read, but arthritis in his hands makes it harder to hold the books. He also has a radio with a headset and a portable DVD player.

Televisions hang from the ceiling for patients to watch during their dialysis.

Some people like to knit, Harrington said, and she has even seen someone paint during a session.

As long as it doesn’t interfere with the access, any activity is possible, she said.

Harris rolled up his sleeve to reveal two bandages on his upper arm.

“This is my fifth access,” he said. One area is where his blood is taken out to go through the machine, and the other is where the filtered fluid goes back in.

He keeps bandages on overnight to guard against any bleeding, and removes them the next morning. When he doesn’t have a bandage on at night, it helps him remember that the next morning is when it’s time to go in again for dialysis, he said.

He gets it out of the way early in the morning, so he has a full day ahead of him afterward. He’s tired when he finishes, so he rests for a little while and then goes on with his day. While he was farming, he’d be out working in the fields later in the day.

His sisters wanted him to move to Wichita Falls a few years ago to be closer to them. He grew up here, and he decided to make the move from Greenville, Texas, to Wichita Falls.

He lives at Rolling Meadows, where he has made quite a few friends. They play cards and go to movies.

Harris can also travel if he wants to. Dialysis doesn’t stand in the way if someone wants to go out of town, Harrington said. It’s possible to set up places to have dialysis out of town.

“We’ve had patients that snow ski,” she said.

“You have to watch your arm,” Harris said, but otherwise, just about anything goes.

At one point, he got on a list for a third transplant, but took his name off and decided to control his condition with dialysis. The immunosuppressant drugs he had taken for years affected his skin. The transplant surgeon told him he could have a transplant, but added that “‘the skin cancer would eat you up,’” Harris recalled. He has seen that happen to others, and didn’t want to take that chance.

He has gotten used to dialysis, and it’s just another part of his routine.

A young patient once talked about having heard that people on dialysis die very quickly, Harrington recalled.

Harris has reached out to other patients, particularly when there was a sort of peer mentoring program, and he’s proof that someone on dialysis can live a long and healthy life, she said. It’s about everyone, from the patient to the medical team, working together.

“It depends on how well you take care of yourself,” Harris said. “I’ve never missed a treatment.”

Reporter Jessica Langdon can be reached at (940) 763-7530 or by e-mail at langdonj(at)TimesRecordNews.com.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/apr/18/healthy-attitude/