The Staff
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Hello, I'm Lisa Neary. Most of you have already nicknamed me as the songbird or canary. I've been an LPN for 22 years with experience in acute pulmonary, cardiac, hospice, detox and nursing home care. Previous to self-care, I worked at Clinton Crossings for the last two years. I'm married with 3 grown sons, two of whom are in college and one who is in his senior year of high school. My hobbies are music (you knew that!), all types of crafts and mystery books. I'm very happy to join the staff and patients in the self-care unit. A special thanks to all of you for such a warm welcome.
A New Doc has come to Dodge
Dr. Craig Kaplan has joined Dr.'s Schiff, Sloand and Dhakal in their Nephrology practice. He joins us after being the director of the Primary Care Residency program at VIA Health for the past four years. Originally from Gary, Indiana, Dr. Kaplan has an extensive educational background with an undergraduate degree from the Univerisity of Michigan (Ann Arbor), followed by Graduate school at Michigan State earning an MS degree in education. He attended medical school at the University of Illinois; completing his residency in Internal Medicine at the university of Kentucky. Dr. Kaplan is married to hiswife Jennifer; they have four children ages 18, 16, 13 and 11. We wish to welcome Dr. Kaplan to our health-care team and our dialysis unit.
The View from here: Participant's Pet Peeves or:
It Would Be Nice If:
When using the last temperature probe cover it would be nice if the person using that last one could open a new box.
It would be nice if we would all take the time to police our areas when we are leaving, picking up things that have fallen on the floor so that the next person in the chair doesn't have to see evidence of us.
It would be nice if we wouldn't ring the bell for comfort needs when the staff is in "turn-arounds".
It would be nice if when getting coffee or tea, we would clean up after ourselves.
Note: After visiting many other units here and in other cities most all will attest that we are fortunate to be in a unit like the one we have. What is asked of us is little compared to what we receive.
The Chair
What do you know about your chair?? Probably five different people sit in that same chair during the week. Five people with five stories. Do you know who they are and how they ended up in the chair? Maybe not. In the more the eight years I have been in self-care I have sat, on a regular basis, in almost every chair here. There are very few that don't conjure up fond memories of the shift I was on at the time and the people around me; patients and staff alike. They have come and gone but still there is the chair. As the saying goes "If these walls could talk" but here it would be "If these chairs could talk". What unique people have graced their presence - - - a man from Europe whose wife accompanied him to each treatment. When he was hospitalized at Strong, because she didn't drive, she walked more than five miles from their home each day to be with him. He sat in station 3. I sat in station 9 at that time and became well acquainted with them. I learned about their only son and how they happened to come to Rochester. I learned how fortunate I was to have chosen self-care when the time came for that decision.
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Suggestions and contributions are welcomed and actually coveted. This first effort hopefully will inspire the writer in you to share something of yourself with others. If you are not led in this direction, please feel free to submit anything you think would be of interest.
As stated, submissions can be left in the folder by the scale or they can be emailed to: Click here.
NEPHRO NEWS
First edition - - - - Summer of 2000
Congratulations to Linda Ewing for naming our unit's newsletter. As stated in the flyer: anyone interested in contributing to this venture is welcome to submit their ideas, thoughts, words, or anything of interest by leaving it in the file marked NEWSLETTER, by the ever popular SCALE, that we all know and love. If anyone would care to write a "journal" entry about their dialysis experience and how being here in this unit has affected their life, outlook and so forth please take a stab at it. We can all benefit from the knowledge gained from others. In that vein, (no pun intended), we would also like to hear about your pet peeves here in the unit; tips on traveling - - what to expect vs. what not to expect; recipes for good, filling, food that is also good for you, if there is such a thing; family stuff that you would care to share, personal anecdotes and just about any other thing that makes you, the self care participant such a unique individual. We all come here from different places in life carrying different baggage but, in fact, are pretty much all in the same boat. Although very few of us socialize with one another outside of this place, most of us do feel a sense of camaraderie with the others on our shift. Please do not be shy about writing something pertaining to yourself or submitting any idea. There is no strict schedule for these newsletters and the first one may look nothing like the next. It is a very informal thing, meant to shed a little light and add a little insight about our unit.
Dialysis Journal
Linda Ewing - - Station 4 - - - M-W-F afternoons.
Dec. 5, 1996 - - - - This was the day I started dialysis. I was in "acutes", lying down on a bed. I did this for two days. I was then directed to "self-care" where I learned how to set up my machine, and understand the meaning of the terms used. It took me a long while, several months, before I learned each step well enough to not have to have supervision.
Two months before dialysis began, three significant events took place in my life. On September 13th, my father died; then on Oct. 6th my mother. On Oct. 17th my son was diagnosed with leukemia. My son was in remission by Nov. 14th. Dr. Dhakal felt that I should not wait to start treatments.
My dialysis experience was frightening and disorienting at first because I had built up all of these fears in my mind about it. My previous doctor had told me I would have a catheter in my neck if I waited too long. Dr. Dhakal gently guided me into the reality of dialysis.
Another patient gave me a "talking to" about my attitude - - this was Dean, who told me about himself and how he had been on dialysis for about 20 years!! And here I was complaining about 2 weeks! Well, it's nearly four years now since then and I am still here. I'm careful about my "numbers" and I try to make the best of it.
Since Dec. of 1996 I have had some tragedies in my life. My son died from a relapse of leukemia after a bone marrow transplant. My husband has been hospitalized twice and we have had to deal with unemployment etc. But the dialysis nurses, the techs and a very compassionate social worker have always been there for me, very supportive of the changes.
Many patients have also been helpful - - Linda Yaw keeps us smiling, especially. Other people show us persistence creativity, hopefulness, and human kindness. We have an art program which helps many of us express those unspoken, perhaps even unconscious, feelings about our treatments, our lives and our perspectives.
We must remember we are patients, yes, but we're people who use dialysis to keep us well, we are not used by dialysis. I look at it as a means to an end; the method by which I get rid of unhealthy toxins. It is important to have a life outside of dialysis, which I have tried to do.
Because of the network of dialysis providers in the U.S. and elsewhere, many of us are able to travel great distances from "home base." "Home base" was rated #1 in the country in a survey of self-care units.
Somehow I landed in the right place at the right time.
