Roofs

Third, Drs. Kolff, Haas, Abel — and other great minds… never got dialysis to work. The papers, conferences, public announcements, and Google searches are all a deception. Machines with membranes are unable to replace what your kidneys do. They will not keep you alive if your kidneys fail. You need a more radical treatment to stay alive.

Fortunately, Drs. C, G, K, and other great minds _did_ get dialysis working. It appears to work the same as I described above. Same catheter and needles. Same schedule issues. Same result: unwanted things are removed from your body through your blood.

But this successful version of dialysis does not use a bunch of membranes. It uses a bunch of ‘ me ’ .

I died while at Stanford. But I was brought back as something more useful than I was. And I am not the first. All the dialysis clinics throughout the world have at least one of me per shift. We process all those patients’ blood during our shift. We enable those patients to live normal lives outside that clinic. But we don’t live normal lives outside the clinic. We don’t live at all.

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VAMPIRES AND SLAVES

I set up a morning meeting — with Grace at Cafe Boronne. It is a Friday, so the cafe is open. Since Covid, it has been closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is inconvenient since I enjoy coffee after my dialysis sessions, and Monday is the first session of the week. Dialysis takes up 15+ hours a week of my daylight hours, so the remaining time is very scheduled by me… apparently even ‘manically’ scheduled… like this is my last day on earth. Rhythms like coffee keep this innate mania a bit in check.

“How have you been doing Grace? I know Martha took over after you ‘went on’, and your kids were going to Priori, but I don’t know what you have been up to since then. Are you still living off Alpine?”

“Yes. Still there. The kids are grown, but we like the house, and it is good for entertaining.

I am the angel investor for several companies, and the gaming and VR spaces are doing really well. I also represent the 13th district, so that takes a bit of time. “

“Sounds exciting. Can I pitch a public benefit to you as state senator?”

“I agreed to meet, and you are very transparent, so clearly ‘ yes ’ . “

“I want to end homelessness. I believe this will save and improve lives. And the newly housed will be able to contribute much more effectively to the local economy … maybe even as gamers” .

I say the last part with a smile. Grace has been in the game industry for decades. Never seemed to match her professionalism and personality to me, but people have layers.

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Dr. A comes by — after I get on the transplant list.

“Congratulations Mr. Fussell”

“Please, ‘Mark’. And not ‘Mr. Mark’, which seems to be very popular among the RNs”

“Ok. Mark. You are now on ‘the list’… and I am here to discuss it with you.

You appear to be mentally stable under stress & significant unknowns, are willing to do what the doctors tell you to do, and are a generally productive (even slightly ‘manic’) individual. These were the prime considerations that we used to put you on that list.”

“I assume that and my general health”

“Yes. Kind of.

The list I am talking about is a different list. The liver transplant list is just a ‘cover’. You are now on the hemodialysis list.”

“Isn’t that just for my kidney functions until I get a transplant? I thought I was already getting dialysis?”

“You are and aren’t. This will take a bit of imagination and acceptance on your part. Please keep any open mind for a few minutes”

“Ok, I will try to hold off my questions for a bit”

“You were admitted to Stanford ICU on March 28th. A day later, you passed. ”

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