Kidney News : “Dying (?) Nurse Still Saving Lives”
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Recommend Message 1 of 2 in DiscussionFrom: thedialysisman (Original Message) Sent: 6/20/2006 8:38 AM
Article from NBCSandiego.com News June 19th, 2006
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9395305/detail.html
“Registered nurse Rowena Simmons has spent the last 20 years at Palomar Medical Center helping patients. Now, Simmons must give herself dialysis treatments every night, sometimes after a grueling 12-hour shift. Without the treatments, she could die.”
Commentary: I applaud this nurse. As far as I’m concerned, she is made of steel and deserves a standing ovation from the entire population of the USA for continuing to work, helping to save lives, while she also undergoes dialysis therapy, at home. However, I can’t understand the title of the article “Dying Nurse Still Saving Lives.” I’m sure that the author of the article and the editors of NBC thought that it was melodramatic and would draw attention to the article, but it sends an inaccurate message to the public, which is that folks on dialysis are dying.
Rowena Simmons is “living”, not “dying.” She’s a brave woman who is saving her life with home dialysis. She then gets up in the morning and goes to save the lives of other patients afflicted with end stage renal disease. That’s hardly the act of a dying person.
In my opinion, Rowena Simmons has been afflicted with end stage renal disease and decided to live life to it’s fullest by taking control of her dialysis therapy. When many patients would just give up and go on disability, this woman has decided to continue working.
I deeply admire Rowens, more than words can attest, but I resent the liberal media’s characterizing her as “dying.” Rowena has chosen to live her life to the fullest and to achieve the highest level of wellness that she can. To say that she is “dying” is an insult and not reflective of the reality of her situation. The truth is that we are all “dying” from the time that we are born. Patients with end stage renal disease have varying levels of wellness and I’d say that for Rowena to be able to work a 12 hour shift in a dialysis center, she’s doing pretty darn good.
We should be supporting Rowena and encouraging her to achieve the highest level of wellness, possible. Telling her and the rest of the world that she’s “dying” underminds this process. It insults and discourages dialysis patients all over the world, people who are trying their best to live. Furthermore, the correlation of the word “dying” with dialysis, insults every patient and every dialysis professional who works everyday toward the goal of living.
Rowena, keep on “living.” I hope and pray that you receive a call from the cadaver waiting list, real soon. We’ll all be praying for you and encouraging you here at Dialysis & Transplant City. You are our hero!Joe Davis