‘जनता के साथ-PGI का हाथ’.- An initiative to have comman plateform for general public, patients & caregivers
The department of Nephrology hosted the first of PGI series ‘जनता के साथ-PGI का हाथ’. This initiative aims to have common platform for general public, patients and care givers.
There is a perception amongst general public that one cannot sustain for long on maintenance hemodialysis. This Saturday i.e. on 2nd December a program was conducted at the APC auditorium of PGIMER to address the fears and concerns regarding long term dialysis in the minds of both patients and their care givers. This interactive program involved the patients, Nephrologists, dialysis technicians, nursing professionals, and general public. In the inaugural address Prof Vivek Lal emphasized towards holistic approach of patient care. He further stressed upon the fact what PGI is today is because of the “patients”. In this program, not just the health care professionals but the patients on long term dialysis namely personal experiences about maintenance hemodialysis. Mr Rajiv Sahai who is a marketing manager and has to do lot of travelling is able to gel it with hemodialysis. He is on hemodialysis for 12 years. Two retired PGI emloyees in their late 60s shared their experience of being on dialysis for 7 yrs. Mr Gaurav Pradeep shared his 27 yrs journey of living wiith kidney failure. Initially he was on dialysis, then underwent kidney transplantation which functioned for 12 yrs and then he was back on dialysis. After undergoing hemodialysis in hospital setting for 6 years, in 2018 he set up his dialysis unit at home and for last 5 years he is on home hemodialysis. He being a software engineer keeps himself busy , does cycling for 7 kms. All these patients proved the point that normal social, productive and functional life is possible while being on dialysis. The wife of Mr. Gaurav Pradeep spoke about the emotional journey of a care giver from an initial apprehension and anxiety to gradual adjustment and acceptance.
It was a panoramic discussion with panel members simplifying the medical and technical aspects for general public and the patients and care givers narrating their experiences so as to give a realistic portrayal of life on long term dialysis. Bursting the prevalent myths and pessimism, the program conveyed that long term dialysis can be well sustained by patients and care givers. The take home message from this lively session was that instead of the family feeling sad that their patient has been advised or were on maintenance dialysis, the families eventually adapted to living a close to normal life with the support of each other and their health care givers. They stated that they feel blessed that renal failure and its life threatening complications were minimized by treatment and that dialysis prolonged the life of their family members. Prof Sakhuja former Dean and head of Nephrology congratulated Prof Vivek Lal for taking this initiative where there is “Sangam” of patients, their family members, general public and health care givers.
