Yadira, Orlando Figueroa´s daughter was sitting in the ward . She was waiting to see her dad . It has been part of her daily routine for nine months , every- other day.

“We did not know. He felt nothing. Complementary medical check-up was performed and they sent us directly to the nephrologist. It was a strong blow. Imagine, he was always a healthy man! Doctor Arzola explained that he had two choices : hemodialysis or death ... and here we have been here since then , ”she told me.

Humanize health

The head of the Nephrology service of Comandante Ciro Redondo García General Teaching Hospital, Doctor Alberto Arzola Sola has seen people coming and leaving that room for so long . Patients from eight municipalities arrive there for hemodialysis , through 12 artificial kidneys that day after day , help to recover those who will no longer enjoy life without this treatment.

“We are seven nephrologists in this hospital. Patients diagnosed with terminal chronic kidney disease or acute renal failure come here ; in addition, we perform peritoneal dialysis to people who need it, ” Arzola said.

In order to offer a service like this, it is not enough to have fully equipped rooms, it requires treated water, even with ultraviolet lights to get rid of bacteria and then incorporate it into the loop used in hemodialysis. One liter of dialysis fluid for every 34 liters of this water, is the mixture that passes through a membrane filter, the patient's blood flows and substances are exchanged, according to the needs of each.

Although all patients suffer from the same disease, each clinical condition is different, hence the personal and specialized treatment, the doctor explains.

“We must be extremely careful to use machines. The devices to performe hemodialysis on patients suffering from Hepatitis C, are not used for treating other patients , for example, and thus with other pathologies ”.

At the end of September, 66 patients are treated in the ward, another four have joined in early October. They always go to the appointment by taxis that the governmet has for their transfer, “in the province, 20 are hired under for this service ,” explained Dr. Félix Carreño, head of Medical Assistance, at Artemisa the provincial Health Management.

Dr. Arzola has treated many patients; He has seen many of them every week for three days there, and others never again. "It is not an easy task. There are very delicate patients. We always explain the need to hemodialyze when there is no longer a remedy, but the decision is only for the patient and his family. ”
Four transplants have been done during the year, and eight people wait on an immunological compatibility list with cadaver donors. Even so, "there is little culture in Cuba about organ donation, despite that, the kidney is considered as the most transplanted organ in the country," he says.

“Hemodialysis is a prioritized program. Both rooms, the one in Ciro Redondo and the one located in Comandante Pinares Hospital (in which they have performed five transplants during 2019), involve all their staff in improving, increasingly, the service and humanizing as much as possible a treatment of great effort for patients and family, ”said Yelaymis Pérez, head of hospitals in the province.

Osniel: 18 years won in life

“You will believe that it is a lie, I am here because of a hypertension. Well, the decision was short: hemodialyzed or "I'm leaving." I didn't want to die, especially since I was 24 years old at the time, ”Osniel Páez Martínez, 43, speaks fluently , while the artificial kidney fulfills its function and some bandages cover the canalizing device of his vein.

“This treatment only lasts four hours, three times a week, compared to having the possibility of living… just little time . Everything is in the mind. You have limitations, but, for example, I live alone and I do everything, ”he says.

This man had an active life, worked as maintenance operator in the Poultry Company. With only four years of work I was retired because of my condition.
“They told me - you have to hemodialyze yourself - and I said to myself: Well that shouldn't be so bad! I came to a room for the first time and I didn't know what they were going to do to me. I felt fear, a lot of fear, because a part of my life was paused. The doctors had explained the procedure to me more or less, but the impact is very hard , ”he states.

With Osniel´s positive spirit , the eternal thanks to his adorable neighbors in Caimito and a slogan as a company “If I do not do this, I will pass away ”, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday patient waits for the taxi at the door of his house and spend , already laughing, the four hours near of his life provider.

Doctor facing doctors news

“I know how much hemodialysis costs. I can not imagine this treatment in another country. Cuba is unique. I was going to my fourth internationalist mission when I was diagnosed with kidney failure. My blood pressure, during those days, had values up to 250/150. Something was wrong, but I never imagined something like this, ” Orestes Laza Meralla says almost without overcoming the fright.

Six years ago he was director in Orlando Santana polyclinic, located in Mariel. Stress provoked by family problems and overwork made the doctor become patient. His feet swelled and he barely noticed.

“I have part of the responsibility, I had several emotional difficulties and had ignored my health. When I reacted it was late, ”he regrets .

He will never forget August 9, 2013, because that day it was the doctor's turn to receive the news that is given to patients "you are sick and you should be hemodialyzed," said a doctor from Nephrology Institute.

He was hospitalized for 40 days. His pressure stabilized and the hemodialysis cycle began to become a routine. “I lost 18 kilograms and then life changed me completely; although not forever. I already learned to live with the disease. Stopping life because you should hemodialyze does not make no sense.

“I continue working as a doctor in the polyclinic and I teach General Comprehensive Medicine classes to second year residents of Medicine,” Orestes says.

Hemodialysis is the way to live more . The fact that the treatment is totally free in our country and even the possibility of including Cuban-American patients repatriated, such as Deisy Lázara Morales, makes us grow as tall as palm trees.

For Orlando, Osniel and Orestes hemodialysis becomes the only choice to smile every morning and believe in another day of life, because when life comes in serums shape there is no other choice : just follow the path and flow just as water that drives the blood in this treatment.

TRANSLATION BY LMMS