Every week there are new cases of kidney related conditions that require
dialysis. In most cases it is acute renal failure which will only require a
single treatment of haemodialysis. But disturbingly there is a growing list
of Belizeans with chronic renal failure – a total collapse of both kidneys.
Those are patients who - until they get a kidney transplant – will need
dialysis three times per week. Can you imagine what that’s like? Well
we couldn’t and so tonight’s return of 7 On The Inside is with a
twist. We won’t tell you about someone’s difficult job – we’ll
instead tell you about one 22 year old young man’s difficult life. Keith
Swift went on the inside.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This is where 22 year old Keith Moguel spends his Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
– in a bed hooked up to a dialysis machine at the Healthcare Partners
Hospital.
Keith Moguel,
“Three times a week, every week. Three hours. Monday Wednesday and
Friday but at least I still have the weekend. I could do something with that.”
But not much. Keith suffered renal failure last June and since then the dialysis
machine is what has been keeping him alive. So for three days every week –
this is this 22 year old’s reality. A single tube is connected to the
subclavin vein under his collarbone. That tube then feeds into two tubes –
one is cycling the blood out of his body where it is cleaned by the dialyzer 
and then other tube is the cleansed blood being cycled back into his body. In
this way the machine mimics the main function of the kidneys which is to remove
urea and certain salts from the blood. So it is dirty blood out – clean
blood in and he has to sit or lie down for four hours for the process.
Keith Moguel,
“I have a machine doing what your kidney should do and it is just,
I don’t know how to explain it but at first it was kind of difficult,
if you want to put it like that, to see something that but you get use to it.
You get to depend on it because without it you will die.”
And while renal failure hasn’t taken his life – it has consumed
it. Keith went from a robust 215 pounds to 150 pounds. He he’s had to
leave home in Mango Creek and relocate to Belize City because right now for
this 22 year old – this machine is all that matters.
Keith Moguel,
“This is something real difficult to deal with financially, emotionally,
physically. I wish I could do all the things I used to do before because I am
young, 22. I shouldn’t have had to deal with this. This tek over everything
because I used to work, be able to move around how I please but I can’t
do that now because if I don’t my dialysis my body usually retains the
water and that starts to drown me because the water gets retained in my lungs
and I can’t breathe. I get tired real quick and that can put me into a
coma too.”
Keith Swift,
Now you’re from Mango Creek but you now live in Belize City?
Keith Moguel,
“Correct.”
Keith Swift,
By choice?
Keith Moguel,
“No. That is a four hour commute right there and that is $20 everyway
go and come. I can’t afford that so it is best I relocate where the dialysis
center is. Right now it looks like my pressure is high. My pressure usually
high.”
And as restless as he may be, as would anyone forced to sit idly for 4 hours 
would be - Keith Moguel is actually one of the lucky ones. There are dozens
of patients who can’t access treatment.
Nurse Maria Ack, Healthcare Partners Hospital
“Approximately ten percent of the blood is out of the body at one
given time and it is circulating through the circuit and into the artificial
kidney. When it exits the artificial kidney going back to the patient, the blood
is already clean because in the artificial kidney it is where the purification
is done. It is difficult even for me to see any time they come but they need
the treatment and I have to give them the treatment but at the same time they
are informed that they have to stay on it. They don’t have a choice: either
on dialysis or do a kidney transplant.”
Keith Moguel,
“What I want them to know is that take care of unuself. Do what you
need to do. Try not to let this happen to you because from here all kinds of
things can happen, this stems down. Your kidney filter your blood and if that
is not happening for you, everything else will go bad, literally.
I hope to get a kidney transplant soon but I have to raise the money for
that and that won’t happen the way I see it. I’ve gone on the different
news channel and ask for donations but nothing came out of it. I’ve written
some places but I guess everybody is dealing with their own problems right now.
So I just try and have a sunny outlook on things but I would really want a kidney
transplant. I have a match, my brother, so it is just to get the money. So until
that happens then I will be on dialysis.”
And that’s why as Keith Moguel finished today’s session at 10:30
and left the hospital for the long walk home to Faber’s Road – there’s
one sure thing in this 22 year old’s life- he’ll be back. For 7
on the Inside, Keith Swift.
There are only three haemodialysis machines in the country and three
of them are at the Healthcare Partners Hospital. One dialysis session costs
$680 and in the case of Keith Moguel, he needs it three times a week. As Moguel
mentioned, his brother is ready to donate a kidney but they need the funds.
It will cost about $30,000 in Guatemala. Moguel can be reached at 621-7981.
Moguel we must mention is fortunately one of 20 patients whose dialysis
is paid for by the government. But there are about 12 additional patients who
need regular dialysis but cannot afford it and so they are on the waiting list.
We also must note that there is also the option of peritoneal dialysis which
can be administered by the patients at home. That is the less used option in
Belize but for patients with chronic renal failure – it is the best advised.
And finally if you have any suggestions for Seven On The Inside, you
can send them to tvseven@btl.net.
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