For the past two keeps I have rotated through the GICU (General Intensive Care Unit) and the haemodialysis unit. At the ICU I help with vital signs and other small things when the nurses are busy. Once again we have a lot of End Stage Cirrhosis of the liver and septic cases ( blood infections that cause multiple organ failure). When I am not busy at the ICU, I help by preparing the machines for the next patients. I am able to connect all the tubing's in the machine, make sure there is no air on the tubing and start the rinsing of the machine. I am really interested in the way the dialysis machine is able to fulfil the job of the kidneys (cleaning the blood from toxic urea products and removing excess water).
By going to the haemodialysis unit , I have been able to realize the impact that kidney disease has in the lives of patients. First, patients need haemodialysis at least twice a week, for about four hours each session. Some of the patients come from very far to undergo this routine procedure. Some patients are scheduled to have their dialysis in the middle of the night as the unit works all night. I am not sure if these patients arrive to the hospital just before their dialysis time or if they arrive early and sleep in the hallways. It is common for the patients and relatives to sleep in mattresses in the hallways of the hospital. The relatives have to be at the hospital at all times in case they need to go buy medications, help with the personal care of the patient, take urine samples to the lab, or go to the blood bank which is located in another part of the city. The family members often do laundry and shower in the garden of the hospital. Therefore dialysis takes a lot of time for the patients and their families. Another factors that neagaivley impacts the patient's life is their very restricted low sodium and potassium diet. Then, they have deformities associated with liquid accumulation in their abdomen, and legs. Tehy also have to deal with other related illness. And finally they have to endure a lot of paina and weekly hemorraghes as their limbs have to be pricked three times a week with one of the biggest needles I have ever seen.
Even though dialysis seems to be a big sacrifice, I get amazed by its powerful nature. Without this wonderful artificial kidney, these pateints would not survive for more than one week. We have patients of all ages who come to the dialysis room, aided by their relatives at each step. I can see the love and care that the family puts in bringing the patient to the hospital. To them, the procedure is not a sacrifice, but a joy, because each day is a gift. After my visit to the dialysis ward, I don't think there is anyone who appreciates more the gift of life than a dialysis patient.
The unconditional love that I see in the Nepalese families contracts to the general idea of the Canadian culture where the sick are often alone in the hospital with no-one to visit them. I can see the individualistic nature of the North American culture where children place the elders in nursing homes, because their quality of life has to be sacrificed when a love one is sick. In Nepal, relatives sleep by the side of their sick family member, and care for them until it is humanly possible, disregarding geographic and economical barriers .I think solidarity is the strength of the Nepalese people. They held each other's hands in the times of hardship and assure themselves that better times are yet to come. They remain joyful because they are together. However, there is no more truth that in times of hardship you must "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst". I feel that hope needs to be accompanied by social action. Someone needs to stop waiting for things to change, and start doing something about it. In the case of the gas crisis, my iwhish id for the Nepale people to stop waiting for the gas crisis to be over, and to start developing clean energy in alternatives like biodiesel, and biogas. I have been trying to organize a group of people to help me built a DIY biogas generator, but, I often find answers like: it is too difficult, it might not work, it is too time consuming, I dont know where to get the materials etc. When I walk in the street, I see the potential that this country has for such thing, as they have plenty of agricultural land and the weather needed for biodiesel crops.
