Dying To Live - Part 2

When I arrived in the Emergency Room, there were a lot of things going on.  I can't remember every detail because I was in "brain fog" due to the toxins that had built up in the blood.  I was shivering cold, but no amount of sheets or blankets could warm me.  Blood was drawn and sent to the lab.  Someone I had been seeing at that time arrived and stayed with me.  I still remember the look on his face of impending doom.  I think he felt more sorry for himself, than for me, for having to go through all that mundane "hospital stuff"...  but that's another story all together!


At one point, I remember turning my head to the right and glancing ahead, over to the nurses' station.  One of the nurses who was assigned to me, was talking with a doctor.  I knew at that second that they were discussing my condition because the doctor kept listening, but turned her head in my direction, and we made eye contact.  It was approximately 2:00 A.M. by this time.


The doctor, Dr. Rekha Ganguly, was the hospital's Nephrologist.  She walked over to my bedside and said, "Ms. DeLorenzo, I'm Dr. Ganguly.  I came all the way from Huntington to help you"  
Huntington is a town in Long Island, New York, and about a one- hour drive to the hospital in Astoria, Queens.
"Your kidneys are not working...that's why you are feeling so sick".  Whether it's temporary or permanent, we don't know yet, but we will need to do 'emergency dialysis', or you won't survive the night".
I said something along the lines of "o.k."   


The only thought going through my mind was my son, Angelo.  I knew that I couldn't go yet.  It was too soon...Angelo would not be able to handle my passing, and it would adversely affect him for the rest of his life.


Dr. Ganguly called for a dialysis machine to be brought to the E.R. where I was.  When it arrived, it was time to get "hooked up" to it.  She actually did the procedure herself and didn't want any of the nurses to do it.  A catheter had to be inserted into an artery in my groin area...sans anesthesia.  She may have used a topical anesthetic, but it hurt like the devil...hahaha.  At the end part of the catheter were two separate tubings.  One part for the blood to come out of, and one part for the blood to be returned to the body.  In between coming out and going back in, the blood runs through a filter, which cleanses the blood.

Dialysis Catheter

Dr. Ganguly told me that there was a very small chance that when my blood ran through the filter, that I could have an allergic reaction to the plastic material the filter was made of, and I could go into anaphylactic shock and die.  At that point, nothing seemed too dangerous for me.  I just wanted the poison out of my system.  I had been in an almost-3-week state of zombie-ness and I just wanted to be normal again.


I must have fallen asleep during the dialysis treatment in the emergency room because the next thing I remember after that was waking up in a regular room in the hospital, still connected to the dialysis machine.  They must have taken me up to a room when it became available.  I was going in and out of dream-like states.  At times I saw blurry outlines of nurses coming in and out, and their voices sounded muffled, as if they were talking through tightly-fitted face masks.  


It was working though.  The dialysis treatment(s) were cleansing the toxins out of my blood and I was regaining mental clarity and physical "normality".  I remained in the hospital a little over 2 weeks, having dialysis treatments three times per week.  There was a slight possibility that my condition was temporary, and my doctor had hoped that after three or four dialysis treatments in the hospital, my kidneys would kick in and start functioning again.  This never happened, and I would need dialysis treatments three times a week for the rest of my life, or until I received a successful kidney transplant. 

Hemodialysis using a surgically-made access in the arm.

I was just so elated to be feeling good again, and to have the option of dialysis to keep me alive.  I guess you would say that the first year or so on dialysis was a "honeymoon phase".  All was well in the world and I made many new friends at the dialysis center where I went three times a week for treatment.  I became a patient representative and learned everything there was to learn about dialysis and how to remain healthy on dialysis while waiting for a transplant.


But of course, the honeymoon phase didn't last long.  Dialysis takes a horrible toll on the body, and I was on dialysis for 8 years until I received a transplant in 2006.  "Dialysis Hangover", or "Dialysis Washout" as it's called is the feeling after treatment.  Weakness, spikes or drops in blood pressure, dizziness, leg cramping are some of the symptoms of dialysis hangover.  A large amount of blood is out of the body at one time during dialysis and not only are toxins filtered out of the blood, but so are proteins, nutrients and electrolytes.  I will need to dedicate another post or two to "life on dialysis". 

Arrived one Halloween for my treatment, and tried to cheer up the other patients. 

After Notes:  
The dialysis I received that night, and for 8 years after that was "hemodialysis" ...where the blood is cleansed using an artificial filter, as in the picture above.  There also exists "peritoneal dialysis"...which uses the body's own peritoneal membrane, located in the abdomen, to remove impurities from the blood.  For the latter, a catheter first needs to be placed in the abdomen and this type of dialysis can be done at home.


My life-saver, Dr. Ganguly, who also ran the dialysis center where I received 8 years of treatment at, succumbed to cancer one year before I received my transplant.  It saddened me beyond belief, that it just wasn't possible for her to see how healthy and happy I became after the transplant...all because she insisted on excellence in running the center, and also because she made that drive from Huntington that night when she received that call.  She must have known, instinctively, that I was...dying to live.  : )  : )