Episode 2 Paul: Navigating the Waters of Dialysis A Convergence of Science and Compassion

Send us a text

Water, often termed the essence of life, takes on a life-saving role in the world of dialysis – a truth that resonated deeply with me as my sister courageously navigates her path to a kidney transplant. With Maurice Carlisle and Paul Terry by my side, two titans in the dialysis arena, we unravel the intricate dance between life-giving technology and the human touch that forms the cornerstone of patient care. Our dialogue ventures into the complexities of water chemistry and its profound implications for safety, drawing from a wellspring of personal experiences and industry expertise to enlighten those touched by the reality of dialysis. Maurice's insights, coupled with the broadened horizon Paul discovered in his leap from technician to the biomedical field, illuminate the paramount importance of meticulous management in this delicate process.

As your host, I weave through the conversation's threads, we confront the challenging equilibrium between compassion and cutting-edge technology. We probe into how the industry's pulse sometimes seems to skip a beat in maintaining empathy among its technical advances. The generational shift in attitudes among technicians emerges as a focal point, sparking debate over its influence on the quality of empathetic care. This exploration underscores the undying necessity of a moral compass in healthcare, particularly for professionals like Maurice and Paul, whose everyday decisions leave indelible impressions on human lives. Join us for a heart-to-heart on the essence of humanity amidst the march of medical machinery – a dialogue that promises to inspire, educate, and reaffirm the human connection at the core of healthcare.

With hosts Maurice Carlisle and Ira McAliley

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:27):
What's up, beautiful people, here we are once again
for another installment ofwhat's the deal with dialysis.
We are back here, my dude,maurice Carlisle, who's in Ohio,
technician, the brain behindthis whole concept, and this is

(00:49):
his heart child.
And back with Paul Terry, whohe's been doing dialysis for a
long time in various aspects.
So we're just going to haveanother conversation for some
education and for someinspiration.
So how's that fellas?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Good morning.
Good morning, good morning.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
Yes, it is Me and Paul, full disclosure.
Me and Paul go back to collegeman UCSD in San Diego well, la
Jolla, let me get that right.
And so we go all the way backthere and we ended up in the
same industry.
We've been discussing this forabout the last 15, 20 years.

(01:32):
Me and Paul go back to thebeginning of this, so we've been
just like feeding off eachother.
So it was just a naturalprogression for him to come into
what's the deal with dialysisand talk about what he does
every day.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
And so, just to start off, what our intentions are to
educate folks who are either ondialysis, who have loved ones
on dialysis, and myself being afilmmaker and in the
entertainment industry inHollywood Like I didn't know
anything about dialysis when westarted the conversation with
Maurice Ways back, I've nowlearned much.

(02:10):
I know I have a lot more tolearn, but my sister has been on
dialysis for several years andactually good news she just got
qualified to be on thetransplant list and may actually
already have a donor.
So that's a celebration.
But just in general, there'ssome things in the industry that

(02:32):
Maurice was talking about andwe're just like let's just
expose, not to tear people downbut to build people up and just
make it a better experience forall those involved.
And so if you're here for thefirst time, that is what this is
about.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
So Absolutely, and Paul knows far too well.
Paul was actually a I'll letPaul tell you, but he was a
technician and then when it'sthe bio Medfield.
So it was an interestingpathway to this industry.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Thank you, this is true, you know it's a trip.
It's just you make mention ofthat, Reese, because I remember,
I remember my early days in thepast.
It was, it still is, a femaledominated career path.
It wasn't a lot of malesinvolved on the clinical side of
dialysis, A lot of the malesinvolved with that's on the

(03:22):
technical side, biomedical side,administrative side.
But and so it was interestingpart of my introduction during
my early days how people were.
People were not used to blackmen, especially in certain

(03:42):
settings where the patient, thepatient population may have been
predominantly Caucasian,European and they would see me
coming.
Sometimes it'd be like I'm notletting that big dude put stick
me right, I've been dialysis for32 years, so and they didn't

(04:03):
mean to harm they, just theywere genuinely, sincerely afraid
sometimes and I remember thosedays.
Just to add to what you said,man, it's been 32 years, learned
a lot, learned a great deal,especially chair side.
I think my and I'm about toadmit now but I really I credit

(04:27):
my time being a technician asthe time that I was I gained the
most wisdom from patientpopulation sitting chair side
and listening to their storiesand them sharing their lives
with you.
That was probably the best partof it.
I'm on the technical side now.
So I can actually impact morepeople on the technical side,

(04:49):
because it is my job to makesure that technicality and that
things are at the part and theyare as they should be in
dialysis, because it's serious.
Dialysis is serious and I-.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Paul talk a little bit about how important water is
in dialysis, because I don'tthink people really even know
that much.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Well, like most of us , the first time we saw it, the
first time we walk into adialysis clinic facility, that
was the first time we'd everseen or heard anything about it.
It's still a remote type ofpractice.
You know what I mean If youdon't know about dialysis, or
nobody, when on dialysis,generally speaking, you are

(05:36):
oblivious to dialysis.
Water, just like in your body,water is everything, and
dialysis it's all about thechemistry which is the part, a
very integral part, of thebiomedical technician,
biomedical engineers.
That's job description, Becauseif your water is not right, I'm

(05:56):
gonna give you an example.
You remember the gradient flow?
You remember seeing thecommercialist say listen, if you
have a friend or family memberon dialysis and we were using
gradient flow, you have thepotential for a lawsuit called
this number.
Do you remember those?
Do you remember those?
I remember those.
I know Ever since you were inthe hospital.

(06:16):
You do or you do not, I do not,okay.
Well, what happened was I'llgive you an example of the
chemistry part of dialysis, theimportance of it what happens
when the manufacturer'sformulated one of the solutions
that we combined for thechemistry of dialysis?
They formulated it over thelong term to save money, so it

(06:37):
was to provide more buffer forthe exchange that occurs during
a patient's treatment.
But if the bio man wasn'tversed or didn't have a
fundamental understanding ofbiology or chemistry and he was
not proportioning the dialysiscorrectly, that would lead to a

(06:58):
person receiving too much ofthis buffer and it actually
becoming dangerous to them,specifically their heart.
And so there were some issueswith patient safety and they
wanted to blame it on thesolution that was formulated,
when in reality, the problemresided with the bio meds, who

(07:23):
were not educated in that regard.
And because your bio med isyour job, to educate your
physicians, your staff, onwhat's going on with changes in
dialysis, because it's allchemistry.
That's how important water isin dialysis.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
It is everything.
And let's be clear people died.
That's what he's talking about.
That's why they were saying youmight have a lawsuit.
Let's be clear, because many,many people died because of that
error, and so those are familymembers and kids and see they
wanted to go after.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
They wanted to go after the manufacturer who
formulated this particularsolution, but they're still
making that product, whichbasically is a testament to the
fact that it wasn't themanufacturer's problem.
It was lack of understanding onthe part of the dial med.
It was interesting becausepeople, when we were using one

(08:19):
of my clinics, still uses it.
One of my others does not.
I have a couple of clinics thatuse citrate, as you're familiar
with that, where it's just morebio-compatible.
It's more bio-compatible.
You know what I mean.
And you have less remarkableadverse effects when you're
using something that's morebio-compatible, meaning it's

(08:40):
more compatible with the blood,with the patient's blood makeup
or your blood chemistry, the pHin your body and so on and so
forth.
The dialysis water, dialysis,chemistry is everything.
So I recommend that a personeither has a biology background
or has been a technician forwe'll call it a lengthy period

(09:03):
of time minimum two years sothat you understand what's going
on before you come to theBiomemet Department.
It's more than repairingmachines and maintaining water
treatment systems, steve.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
That's all I mean.
What I hear you guys talking.
You guys are talking about thekind of technical side mixed
with, but you also talked aboutthe human side and that is kind
of the in-between from atechnician to me, from a
technician's perspective, and itis merging the go-between
between, you know, the business,industrial, technical side and

(09:40):
just human beings whose liveshave been changed.
You know what I mean.
Like that is, you know, that'skind of what this whole thing is
about is kind of trying to findthe ways to, you know, have the
technical industrial side be alittle more compassionate about

(10:01):
the human side, right, and haveyou know you guys understand the
people.
Like you said, you sat down nextto the people and that
influences how you take care ofyour machines, because you know
it's about saving a person'slife, not just checking off the
box, that you did your job foryour employer.
You know what I mean.
I think that is, I think that'san important aspect, you know.

(10:24):
And how do we, how do you bringthat understanding into the
bio-med side, into thetechnician side of things?

Speaker 3 (10:37):
You're asking hard questions, don't?
Didn't?
I like your interview, that'sprobably what you're saying bro,
come on, you know what?
And basically you guys and againmyself, maurice and Ira, we've
dabbled in conversation, we'vemade, we have put, put us
together them primarily, andthat is interesting because one

(10:59):
of the points that Maurice andmyself like to emphasize is the
fact that it just doesn't seemlike compassionate is as
prevalent as it once was,especially when we were at our
early years in dialysis, asclinicians, as dialysis
technicians, which requires astate certification and, some

(11:22):
instances, a nationalcertification.
But it is very interesting thatyou bring that up because it
seems as if that part isdiminishing as time goes on.
And I don't wanna blame it on ageneration, I don't wanna say
this generation of technicianscoming in are not or do not
possess the compassion or themoral compass that we, that I

(11:47):
think that we possess, but itjust seems to be the case.
But I think a part of it is theindustry itself has changed.