Fridays with Mac: "Breaking Up"

Breaking up is not going to be easy.

Those are thoughts rolling around your scribe’s noggin while joking around with Fresenius Kidney Care technicians. These dedicated health care workers have been responsible for keeping me alive through dialysis for the past eight months. “You better come back and visit us,” declared one the other day.

I’m transitioning to peritoneal dialysis. Basically, for me, it’s dialysis every evening from 8pm-6am. It’s going to take some adjusting but really fits into my lifestyle. When discussing the switch with the kidney medical team it’s been unanimous: It’s ideal. First, no longer will dialysis require my body’s blood to be extracted, purified and then returned. Three times a week for almost four hours each time? Not easy on the body. Draining, literally and figuratively.

However, I will miss wonderful technicians while approaching to “strap me up” snorting, sarcastically, “Here come the vampires!” Haha. Peritoneal Dialysis is far less aggressive, lifts fluid and diet restrictions, should lead to better sleep and more energy. We can also travel again.

Darling wife and this ol’ knucklehead have a plan. We’ll see. The strategy is peritoneal at home until a live organ donor is found. Now, we also have to be concerned with the Amyloidosis. The rare bone marrow crap that destroyed my kidneys? It’s in what doctors call, “Remission.” I like to joke with friends it’s “Under lock and key with a heavy dose of security on hand to ensure it doesn’t escape and try to kill me again.” This is critical for the kidney transplant team. It must be certain Amyloidosis is under control or there’s no way this fella's getting a transplant. We’re confident in the security forces - effective treatments - in place to ensure vixen Amy can’t escape and again wreak havoc.

These awesome technicians and nurses have become friends. One is pregnant with her first child. As this gentle soul has cared for my life? It’s been fun to watch new life growing within a bulging belly. The alpha and omega.

An even more emotional goodbye? Fellow travelers on this journey with kidney disease and the necessity of dialysis. Especially those on the same “shift.” Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5am sharp, we arrive at the facility. Some drive, including myself, while others arrive via a family member or transportation service. We learn one another’s stories. Grandma’s, great grandma’s, former foster care parents and many other “name tags” life assigns us. More women than men. The dudes? Sports fans. We talk sports. For some time, your correspondent had an ideal  spot in a treatment room with about 20 dialysis chairs. This washed up sports broadcaster was parked beside the weigh-in scale. Everyone must weigh in upon arrival. This gives technicians important data as to how much “stuff” they need to extract while purifying our blood.

What I will not miss? Is watching humans this 65-year-old has grown to love and admire continue to suffer. Kidney disease is no laughing matter. Groans from cramping, anguish from another needle, vomiting and other demoralizing situations. I pray to someday offer relief. It's the inspiration to the "Drive for Five" campaign and recruiting 5,000 live organ donors to, “Share your spare, save a life, leave a priceless legacy” public awareness campaign.

There’s 100,000 Americans in need of a kidney transplant. We’re encouraging healthy folks in the 50-65 year range to consider live organ donation. As two-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Crissy Perham powerfully stated in a recent interview. The 53-year-old, who also won a silver in 1992, donated a kidney to Missy Franklin’s dad, Dick. I’ll never forget Perham stating, “It’s better than gold and silver.”

Leaving behind buddies in dialysis is going to be difficult. My heart aches for them. May their suffering end soon. Interested in learning more about live organ donation? Perhaps, at a point in life and wondering, “What’s next?” A community partner, the American Transplant Foundation is a good place to start.

Stop the suffering. As I depart a building filled with friends fighting for their lives? I pray they always remember a buddy is just getting started encouraging others to share their spare and forever savor leaving a priceless legacy.