You might say dialysis is a club people are not dying to get into;
and once there, most people are in for life. Dialysis ---- cleansing of the blood required
when kidneys fail ---- is a treatment for a wide range of diseases, but mostly for
diabetic or ailments related to high blood pressure.
People rarely miss a session ---- their lives depend on showing up for their three- to
four-hour, two- to three-times-a-week appointments ---- and that creates an atmosphere
where people really get to know one another. According to Alice Slutter, administrator of
the Temecula Dialysis Center, that makes the demands of the disease a little easier to
handle.
"It's a support group," Slutter said. Leonard Flippen of Temecula is one of the
dialysis patients at the Temecula center. Three days a week Leonard takes his turn
surrounded by pillows on a comfortable reclining chair. Earphones tune him into his own TV
and the same crowd keeps him tuned in to the lives around him.
"It's like home," Leonard said recently. "Well, home away from home."
Leonard is already working on Christmas presents for this extended family. "The
holidays are insane," registered nurse Laura Kelly said of the group she spends more
time with than her family. "One year we got 30 pounds of See's candy!" Others
bring in avocados and limes; another patient brings in fresh flowers. Lewis said someone
even brought in plants that keep mosquitoes away recently.
"The more you know them and they know us," Lewis said, "it's like
family." Kelly and Lewis agreed the time spent at the center becomes a social
occasion for many. "Some patients are in nursing homes," Kelly said. "When
they come here they get interaction." Kelly noted a group of patients who chatter
away in Spanish while spending their time on the machines.
The patients and staff aren't the only ones who get to know each other well. Those in the
waiting room also get acquainted. David Castro of De Luz has been driving his brother,
John, to the center for more than two years. "You run into people here and find
something in common with them," Castro said.
They also come to each others' aid. When Castro's car was totaled in an accident, he
called the dialysis center and asked for one of the patients' sisters, who he knew would
be there soon with her brother.
"About a half-hour later, she came on over and got me and took me home," Castro
said. "She wouldn't accept any money or anything." Pat Smith of Quail Valley
brings her mom twice a week. "A lot of people, while they sit and wait, talk to each
other," Smith said. "There is a spirit of love that the people show to each
other that ordinarily you just don't find. Even though you don't know these people, lots
of times there is a common bond. Even if you don't know their name, you say hello."