Patient forms county’s first dialysis support group

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Patient forms county’s first dialysis support group
2011-03-04 / Health & Wellness
By Angela Randazzo
Special to the Acorn

When her kidneys started to fail two years ago as the result of her 23-year battle with diabetes, Sheryl Glatt was forced to go on dialysis.

The painstaking blood-cleaning process, and the questions surrounding it, caused the Simi Valley resident to seek out a Ventura County-based support group.

“This (condition) can be a very lonely experience,” she said.

Unfortunately, none existed. So the 50-year-old mother of two decided in January to start her own support group.

There are just five members so far, but Glatt expects membership to grow as word gets out. They meet from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at the Goebel Senior Adult Center, 1385 Janss Road, Thousand Oaks. There are no dues. Dialysis patients, their caregivers and their family members are welcome.

“Basically, it’s just patients helping patients,” Glatt said. “All I need to do is be a good listener and facilitate a little.”

Glatt plans to invite doctors and other medical professionals as guest speakers.

“For our first meeting, people just wanted to talk about their feelings,” she said.

For example, one member shared that his family doesn’t understand what he endures during dialysis, a process that replaces normal kidney function. They think he’s just sitting around watching TV in the treatment room, he said.

Glatt undergoes dialysis treatments three days a week at the Conejo Valley Renal Center. Each session is three hours long.

“The nurse puts a needle in your arm—actually two needles, one for the output and one for the input,” she said.

As the blood circulates through the machine, it is cleaned then put back into the patient’s system.

“On the days I go for dialysis, my blood pressure drops and I have to rest,” Glatt said. “The next day is when I’m feeling a better.”

Support group member Richard Newman, 82, is also on dialysis. After a career in law enforcement, he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

“When you first start dialysis, you are inundated with information and paperwork,” said his wife, Patricia. “There are different kinds of dialysis. It takes even more time to understand what questions to ask.”

The couple has lived in Thousand Oaks since 1966, raised three sons and, over the years, opened their home to 45 foster kids.

The Newmans attended the first two support meetings and found the group helpful.

“There were people there from different areas, and you get other viewpoints,” Patricia Newman said. “You hear what other people are going through; some have even tougher problems than what you have to deal with.”

Glatt, who had to quit her job as a preschool teacher because she was unable to stand, recently underwent five surgeries to correct the circulation problem in her legs caused by her diabetes.

For the past year, she’s been on the waiting list at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for a kidney/pancreas transplant, a wait that could take five to eight years.

Meanwhile, she hopes others undergoing dialysis will join the group.

“Patients need to know they’re not alone,” Glatt said. “You’re not the only one with problems, and you need to communicate.”

For more information on the dialysis support group, call Glatt at ( 805) 320- 3625 or e- mail sherylglatt@aol.com.

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