I want to thank Joe Napsha and Sean Stipp for the story and photo on my and my family’s journey through kidney failure and transplantation (“Greensburg woman optimistic about facing 3rd kidney transplant,” May 11, TribLive).
The often not talked about step between these two is dialysis, a method of keeping the patient alive by replacing their kidney function. It requires being hooked up to a machine through a graft or fistula, which has been surgically placed in your arm, two to three times a week for 3½ hours. Two needles provide blood flow to and from the machine while the patient can recline, watch TV, listen to music, read or sleep.
It’s a fairly intimate process, so you get to know the nurses and technicians who work there.
I go to the Fresenius unit behind Gabe’s off Route 30, and I want to give a heartfelt shoutout to all the staff there. They are like a second family, compassionate, professional and empathetic. The process is an onerous one, but the staff there make it easier. They have a wonderful sense of camaraderie, humor and support for one another and the patients they serve.
I am so very grateful to them for helping and guiding me through this process.
Judith O’Toole
Greensburg