{"id":24,"date":"2013-08-29T01:56:39","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T01:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2014-11-29T03:53:16","modified_gmt":"2014-11-29T03:53:16","slug":"duck-summer-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/?page_id=24","title":{"rendered":"Duck Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"
DUCK SUMMER:\u00a0 MY ODYSSEY AS A DIALYSIS PATIENT<\/h6>\n
\"Duck<\/a>

Duck Summer a Memoir byAngelene J. Hall<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1998, I went into complete renal failure. The lethargy, nausea, fatigue and constant drowsiness signaled that my kidneys had reached the nadir of their effectiveness. With blood pressure approaching stroke level, a rapid decline in an already dull appetite, and extremities bloated to the point of unsightliness, I thought I might be dying. After calling my internist, who insisted I go to the hospital immediately, I knew instinctively that I was in serious trouble.
\nThat night I underwent my first round of dialysis, a procedure that continued for six (6) years.\u00a0 My memoir, Duck Summer: My Odyssey As A Dialysis Patient<\/em>, traces the journey from renal failure to transplant, and focuses primarily on the events and incidents occurring while undergoing dialysis.\u00a0 In short, the book explores the experiences of the dialysis patient, including the navigation through the hospital maze, adjusting to dialysis centers and the staff, accepting health management options, understanding surgical procedures and medical prescriptions, and of course, recognizing the emotional and psychological strains of the dialysis procedure.<\/p>\n

I wrote Duck Summer\u00a0<\/em>because I learned that most people know very little about dialysis unless they have gone through the procedure or know someone who has done so. Even African Americans, who make up a comparatively larger percentage of patients with renal failure, are more often than not unfamiliar with the process and its demands on the patient. I want to share my experiences and provide information on some of the many complexities of being a dialysis patient. Moreover, it is important for people to see the artificial kidney as critical to the survival of the pre-transplant ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) patient.<\/p>\n

Finally, learning about dialysis and the day-to-day experiences of the ESRD patient might encourage more people to develop a greater sensitivity to the need to become a transplant donor.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Prologue:\u00a0<\/strong>I had been a long distance runner, and the decline of my kidney function resulted in a gradual decrease in performance. The prologue describes such an incident while introducing the reader to my illness.<\/h6>\n

Chapter I:\u00a0<\/strong>Just a Regular Appointment<\/p>\n

Chapter II:\u00a0<\/strong>A Clean Heart, Oh God<\/p>\n

Chapter III:\u00a0<\/strong>Ominous News<\/p>\n

Chapter IV:<\/strong> In Search of God<\/p>\n

Chapter V:<\/strong> Sea Gulls and Lemon Ice<\/p>\n

Chapter VI:<\/strong> The Hospital Maze<\/p>\n

Chapter VII:<\/strong> A Nuclear Explosion<\/p>\n

Chapter VIII:<\/strong> A Journey of One\u2019s Own<\/p>\n

Chapter IX:<\/strong> Fistulas, Catheters, and Grafts<\/p>\n

Chapter X:<\/strong>\u00a0 Water, Water, Everywhere<\/p>\n

Chapter XI<\/strong>: Age!\u00a0 Dialysis and Hair Loss, Too<\/p>\n

Chapter XII:<\/strong> A Glimpse of Dialysis Culture<\/p>\n

Chapter XIII:<\/strong> The Kidney Factory: Dialysis for Profit and the Outpatient Clinic<\/p>\n

Chapter XIV:<\/strong> Kidney Transplantation<\/p>\n

Chapter XV:<\/strong> Epilogue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DUCK SUMMER:\u00a0 MY ODYSSEY AS A DIALYSIS PATIENT   In 1998, I went into complete renal failure. The lethargy, nausea, fatigue and constant drowsiness signaled that my kidneys had reached the nadir of their effectiveness. With blood pressure approaching stroke level, a rapid decline in an already dull appetite, and extremities bloated to the point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions\/152"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/angelenejhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}