Dialysis unit and friends we meet

[woodsman]

Today i got a phone call that 3 of my dialysis friends have passed away. My friend Jr. passed this am and Brigitte passed on friday, now millie . making friends at the dialysis unit seems to be a short term thing. I am heartbroken as Jr sat next to me and gave me strength to continue and now he is gone, I type this with heavy wet eyes and while i am a man's man i am devastated..  who's next......

[billybags]

woodsman, that is so very very sad. Hemo can be so hard on a lot of people. It is scarey.

[Rerun]

Oh, Woodsman, this is very sad and hard to face especially during the holidays when it is just a hard time anyway.  There is that poem about a friend's footprints and how they come and go and are there for a reason.  Try and think of them in a better place off dialysis.  Only God knows who is next.  It is worth getting to know each person you meet there at dialysis. 

         and hugs

[YLGuy]

It can be devastating.  I am sorry for your loss.

[Poppylicious]

I'm so sorry, woodsman.  *huggles*

[woodsman]

The more i sit here thinking about my friend Jr teh more i miss him he was a old school farmer and at 72 he knows things.... I dread going into the unit on sat and seeing all the empty chairs....   

If there is a god i think he may have come up with another way.....

[Katonsdad]

Sorry for the loss of your unit Friends.  Can not think what that would be like.
Thoughts and prayers to give you strength are headed your way.

[boswife]

This is so sad.  I feel bad that you have to go to face this fact as well.  I remember friends that i (the wife of d man) would fall so hard in friendship  with some of the D people, and then loose them... It hurt.  I didnt want to talk anymore to anyone, just a quick smile and want to keep to myself.  That didnt last as love is good given even for a short time.  I miss them still..

[del]

We made many good friends while hubby was in center and most of them are no longer with us.  It's been 5 years since he's done in center and there is only 2 of the people who were on the same shift as him left. 

[MooseMom]

If there is a god i think he may have come up with another way.....

I do believe that God exists, but I do not believe He is always merciful.  God scares me.

I am so sorry for your loss.  It is a very frightening thing because at the heart of it, you wonder when that will be you.  Going to dialysis forces you to face your mortality every time you have a session.  It's not a fear that you can run away from when you have needles in your arms that tether you to a machine.

[sullidog]

I had a friend in my center die, sadly it was do to him eating high potassium foods, I didn't hear how he died but I'm just asuming because he loved high potassium foods and ate them all the time. It's strange how someone could be here one day and gone the next.

[Riki]

Unfortunately, when you are on dialysis, it's a cruel fact that some of the people who dialyze with are going to die.  Since I started hemo in 2008, there have been 6 deaths that I can think of, possibly more.  When I was on dialysis as a child, I remember 2 who died.  One of them was only 2 years old.  The other was 5, and had just had a transplant, the kidney came from his mother.  From what I understand, and I could be getting this wrong, cuz it was 20 years ago, his mother's kidney was too big for his body and was causing problems.  They took him into the OR, though I don't know what they were doing, and he died in surgery.

[Donnie]

MooseMom,

Please don't be fooled about who is doing what.  The bible says that the THIEF comes to kill and destroy.

That thief is the DEVIL, Satan himself.  The bible also says that Jesus came to give life and to give it more abundantly.

I am often disgusted when I hear about natural disasters and such being called "acts of god".   There are two gods you know?  One is our Father which is in heaven and the other is the "god of this world". The god of this world (temporarily) is Satan!

So, blame the correct entity for all the misery, please!

The bible also says that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge". It also says that Jesus went to a certain town and could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief.  How can one believe if he doesn't know?  Lack of knowledge will allow destruction!

If you have a bible, look at Mark 11:23 and Mark 11:24.  This clearly says that whatever you believe in your heart and say with your mouth will come to pass!  Good or bad.  Christian or not.   Many people are experiencing just what they said they feared yesterday!

A positive confession is paramount.  Why do you think people with a good attitude and confession do so much better than negative thinkers and speakers?  Check it out and think about it! 

[Riverwhispering]

WOW i feel like i just got out of church...... oh well

It is a sad thing to lose friends no matter if they are in center dialysis friends or online dialysis friends that maybe do it at their home or just anyone that is your friend.   Being human is what happens when we become friends with others.. it's a good thing

People that do it at home die too but we don't always hear about it because we don't see them three times a week.

[Whamo]

One dear old lady, sweet, frail, who gets "D" in a chair across from mine, got taken away in an ambulance Wednesday.  When the police and emergency crew show up you know there's trouble. 

[Donnie]

That might be because I am a Minister, RW!       Besides it was MooseMom who brought up God to begin with, not me.   There's an unwritten rule about internet posting.  If you don't want to hear a different point of view, don't post yours!  If you don't want my point of view about God, do not  tell me yours!   

[Riverwhispering]

So sorry Donnie,

I won't be pushing my Tree Hugging Dirt Worshiping on anyone here.   I didn't mean to offend you with my comment.

River

[MooseMom]

I am often disgusted when I hear about natural disasters and such being called "acts of god".   There are two gods you know?  One is our Father which is in heaven and the other is the "god of this world". The god of this world (temporarily) is Satan!

So, blame the correct entity for all the misery, please!

Oh, this is very interesting!  Thanks so much for posting this because it raises all sorts of questions.  When something awful happens, whether it is a natural disaster like a hurricane or a personal devastation like incurable illness, so many people say that "It's God's will."  I understand the need to have an explanation for as much as possible, so I just assumed that when people can't discover an explanation, they place it at God's feet.  So, are you saying that what these people should more accurately saying is that "It's Satan's will."?

[lmunchkin]

River, you are so right about the ones who do it at home.  There have been a couple people we know of, that D. at home and have passed.  Anyone who suffers this disease knows that Dialysis does a fraction of what the kidneys do 24/7.  Over time, it all builds up to a point that other organs give out.  It is Sad, but a reality!

That is why it is so important to enjoy each other while alive.  Our footsteps are called by God.  Whether one chooses to believe in him or not, doe not exclud that fact. He is Alpha and Omega.  Iam personally glad that he sent his son to die for us all!  I don't want to stand before him on judgement day, knowing that I may not have done something that could help someone or I may have done something to hurt someone!  I want to go to heaven and not burn in Hell for eternity.  So I do my best to be careful in the things I do and say.  Sadly, I have fallen short many times in both catigories! So I ask forgiveness daily.  I have to.

I want a better 2012 for everyone, and I will pray that!  People on this site (IHD) deserve nothing less!

Yes it is very sad to see the losses on a daily basis, but death is not so bad either!  We are human, so our humanisms take over naturally. No body wants to die, but yet, we will.

lmunchkin
 

[Donnie]

Yes, MooseMom, that's exactly what I am saying!    

[RenalSurvivorDotCA]

Early in my in-center treatment (circa 2003), 2 other patients and myself started what we affectionately called the "Dialysis Dinner Club" where we went out to eat every Wednesday night after dialysis. The first friend died in 2007 and another patient came and joined our group. He died a year later. It was then just two of us and my last friend passed last Nov.

It all saddened me very much, and being the last surviving member I stopped going out to dinner Wed night. I've seen much death in my unit. Average 5-6 per year. Every year. From a unit of 40 chairs.

It was around that time that they approached me for trying Home Hemo. After all my friends died, I decided to go for it. I've been home since Dec 12 and loving it. I dialyze 6 times a week at 6-7 hours(Nocturnal) each time. I'm enjoying the freedoms(no fluid or food restrictions) and the flexibility. I do miss the social aspect of being with other people who share my ailment. And  the pretty nurses. 

[lmunchkin]

RenalSurvior, you bring up a good point!  I feel, (this is a feeling-not fact) that had my J continued in-center, he would not be alive now!  Not for the lack of care or anything but he hated incenter.  Now doing it at home (NxStage), he is doing so much better.  He gets better cleaning & removal of fluid. His meds have been reduced.  He can pretty much eat what he wants, yet very careful in portions!  Over all and more importantly, he is no where near the depression he had when in-center.

It is just so much more different doing at home.  He hasnt been in Hospital since 2/2010 and that says alot for a D. patient. Hospitals are not good for D. patients because of all the infections and God knows what else!

Do you think had your friends tried Home D. that they would still be alive?  Of course, one never really knows, but I do wonder!

lmunchkin
 

[Riverwhispering]

I haven't started dialysis yet and because of my weight I can't do it at home.  Just curious what these people died of?  was is because of doing in center dialysis or was it something else?   Why would anyone choose to do in center dialysis if it's the reason the people die? 

I'm freaking out now again.... I will be starting in center dialysis within a month or two I'm pretty sure