Eighty-Eight Hours: A New Approach to Life
- Admin
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
By Kam S.
I have been on Dialysis now since July 2021. Several of my friends keep asking me how I am coping with the new normal with an almost sympathetic tone.
I thought about it and thought some more and with over three months of practical experience and some introspection I decided to put my thoughts on paper. So here I go:
- Is it the best thing that has happened to me?...Absolutely not!
- Is it easily manageable?... Positively yes! It is a gift of life.
Numbers always matter. So here is the mathematical model:
- Hours in a week: 168
- Hours spent sleeping: 68
- Hours of normal “active” time: 100
- Hours spent at the dialysis Center: 12
- Hours available to me: 88
That’s 88 ACTIVE hours per week so I have 88% of my normal active time available to me after considering time spent at the dialysis center. Eighty-eight hours. That is three plus full days of activity. Eighty-Eight hours to focus on whatever I enjoy the most: family time, community work, learning new things, leisure reading, music, health and wellness, social interactions, watching sports, cooking, and more. That’s a full 88 hours that can be made fulfilling.
Now that is the mathematical, fact-based, black and white type of perspective.
However, there is a softer side to this equation. The lifestyle aspect. We have created a community here in Florida of friends and family that exceeds any other environment that I have lived in. We watch each other’s backs, we laugh together, we experience life together, we share each other’s burdens together.
During my journey, our resident doctor friends have given me moral support as well as medical advice. They have come over at odd hours to make sure I was doing ok. They have given me nutritional advice, mental wellness advice and clinical advice. Others have taken me to emergency rooms and doctor’s offices and imaging centers and supported my wife every step of the way.
With this kind of community support network, how can I not be pumped up to do my part? How can I not be fired up to do whatever I can? This brings me full circle back to Eighty-eight hours.
More than two years ago, once I knew I was headed towards dialysis, I had thought about my options. There were only two. Either I don't get the dialysis treatment and have a zero chance of living, or go ahead with dialysis, lose three mornings every week, but live and still have Eighty-eight hours of active life every week, or 4576 hours every year. That is like watching 1,307 NFL games on TV
Fast forward to now. I am determined to take full advantage of my Eighty-Eight Hours: Do everything I can to lead a fulfilling life by staying mentally and physically active, giving back plenty, nurture friendships, eat right and most importantly, as a wise man once said…..master the art of staying young while growing old.
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