Mona Luihn tosses her head from side to side as her treatment for the day ends. Luihn was one of the first patients at DaVita Tokay Dialysis after having diabetes for 55 years and suffering five strokes. "I have beat all the odds," Luihn said as she talked about all that she's been through in her life. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

At Lodi dialysis center, patients share challenges — and hope

Dan Evans
News-Sentinel Staff Photographer

Every day, 100,000 people in the United States learn they have kidney failure.

Many are left with only one option: Dialysis.

It is a process of cleaning waste and excess fluid from the blood by cycling it out of the body, through a machine called a dialyzer, and back into the body.

"It's like a part-time job," said Linda Hansen, the nephrology social worker at DaVita Tokay Dialysis in Lodi.

At DaVita, 150 patients must go through dialysis every other day, three times a week, for three to four hours. Some even go through the process seven days a week.

During the dialysis, patients sit in reclining chairs and pass time as best they can.

Sandy Williams, 55, has had diabetes for 20 years and has been on dialysis at DaVita since April of this year.

"It's very boring, but I tell you — it's worth it," said Williams, as she pulled out a book on tape to listen to. "I was very sick before April, but now I feel good. It's a small price to pay to feel good."

Other patients watch televisions attached to their chairs and some just lie back and sleep.

"I sleep because I can't read anymore," said Mona Luihn, 66, as her dialysis session wound down. After being diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 12, Luihn has been on dialysis for six years and was one of the first at DaVita. She has suffered five strokes, one of which occurred while on dialysis at the clinic.

"I think I've been through 19 lives — and I keep bouncing back. But I'm not gonna bounce forever. I know that."

"Without treatment, most patients would die within a couple weeks," Hansen said.

Dialysis is a waiting game. Once the treatment starts it continues until the patient is able to get a kidney transplant or until they die.

"To society, you get a transplant and you live happily ever after. It's like Vegas; you only hear about the winners. But getting a transplant is just another set of problems," says Mark Rife, as he settled in for another three hours of dialysis.