TwitterMar 22 2010
Zac’s Diaylsis Appointment . . .
Today I want to go back and convey a story… how Zac reacted to the dialysis informational meeting the Wednesday before last…
He didn’t want to go in the first place, however the doctor really wants us to keep moving forward just in case things don’t progress with his kidneys. There are some things in the medical community that one really just has to agree to and this was one of “those”. Zac sighed heavily and protested his need to go as we moved our way toward the appointment. He preferred to have us go to it and he wait in the waiting room. I laughed and told him, “I don’t think that that is the best idea really…” By the time we arrived in the waiting room of the Pediatric Renal Dialysis he was resigned, annoyingly, to go through the motions.
When we were called back we went into the actual dialysis unit into a side office. There was a large TV set up with chairs crammed in between an exam table, sink, counter… your standard exam room doubling as an informational area. The nurse was smiling and very bubbly. She started off by holding up a book and flipping through it. It was something that she and another nurse had created to explains= a lot of various information for a child that’s on dialysis. When she completed our “tour” through the book she smiled and proudly handed it to Zac and told him it was for him and that he could read through it when he was home. Zac, without looking at her, reached out took the book, turned, handed it to me and said, “I’m not going to read that.”
Stunned the nurse gave a somewhat nervous laugh, looked sweetly at him and said, “Well, you’ll have it when your ready.”
“That won’t happen,” Zac said.
Feeling uncomfortable for the nurse I said, “Well Zac why don’t we read it over together when we’re home?”
“Not doing that,” Zac said.
Then we viewed a long video about the different forms of dialysis and the nurse asked if we had any questions. I asked a few. Then she asked Zac if he had any. His answer? “No.”
She said, “Not any?”
“No. I’m not doing any of this,” he said.
“I understood this is all very overwhelming,” she said, “It’ll take time for you to come to except the changes it will mean to your life…”
He didn’t say a thing. Nada. Not one word.
Then we were guided out into the unit to tour the machines, talk with a child that was having dialysis, and the other nurses. The nurses tried to interact with Zac but they had to work overtime to get him to respond. One managed to get him to give a suppressed grin that was accompanied by a tiny comment.
Then the nurse was showed us the way out.
“Finally,” Zac said, “we were in there forever.”
“True, true. Two hours to be exact,” I said.
Laughing I said, “Gosh Zac you sure gave those poor nurses a hard time. They were only trying to help you understand and make things as easy as possible for you. Maybe you could be a little more gentle in the future.”
Pushing his chair with firm resolution he said, “I don’t care I’m not doing any of that and I’m not going to talk about it like I am in any way.”
Surprised I thoughtfully said, “Okay, I see your point. I don’t blame you. It really is best that you kept yourself separated emotionally and thought wise to encourage your body to heal.”
Our drive home together was sweet and fun as always. I have to say that 98% of the time Zac and I connect. Always have. As we drove I teased him about his one word, unresponsive answers and how he left the nurses flabbergasted for words and he laughed a deep belly laugh and said, “Yeah, I bet it did.”
Night, Love ya,
Theresa Jane
-BTW, soon and very soon the meditation CD that I referred to will be available for sale through my company…stay tuned, we will also have 9 different ones available for all sorts of needs
