I began my career in maternity nursing and then moved to caring for kidney patients in a dialysis center. After nearly 17 years in dialysis, Interwell HealthAs a value-based kidney care provider, I hope to use my years of experience to educate kidney patients and help them improve their kidney function and overall health to delay or prevent dialysis.
Little did I know then that shortly after starting my new career, a deeply personal and harrowing experience would profoundly impact the way I connected and interacted with many of my patients.
I'll never forget when I got the job at Interwell. The first person I called was my Aunt Liv, who raised me. She was like a mother to me. She was someone who always told me the truth, no matter what. I went through a lot of hardships when I was younger, but she never put me down and was always there for me when I needed her.
Shortly after I shared the news of my new job with my aunt, she found out her kidneys were failing. DialysisLike many of our patients, she was unaware of her kidney disease until her symptoms became severe and she required dialysis.
With me as her partner, she began home hemodialysis and worked on improving her diet. We stabilized her condition and allowed her to continue on peritoneal dialysis (PD) for a year. But like many of our patients, she had suffered long-term damage and years of ignoring warning signs and neglecting her overall health had taken a toll.
I visited her at her home one Sunday afternoon in August 2023 and immediately knew something was wrong with her. She was pale, weak, and had extremely high blood sugar. I took her to the emergency department, where we discovered she was having a heart attack.
That day, everything changed. She experienced several hospitalizations and severe cases of COVID-19, eventually having to go to a clinic to receive dialysis. Her health rapidly deteriorated.
Eventually, things got so bad that she decided to enter a hospice program and passed away shortly thereafter.
After she passed away, I always wondered what I could have done differently and worried that I had let her down, not only as her niece, but also as a nurse who had spent years helping people with kidney disease. It was one of the worst times I've ever been through.
But after many tears and with the support of my family, friends and Interwell, nursing Speaking with my colleagues, I realized I could use Auntie Lib’s story and experience to help others understand that every decision you make from the beginning of your kidney disease journey matters, for better or worse.
I tell my aunt's story often, and it connects with my patients on a very human level. When I talk about her as a real person with my friends and family, The patient is able to understand the impact of her choices and decisions It affects her and those around her. The patient can hear the emotion in my voice and feel the effect the whole experience has on me.
When we discuss the importance of diet, medications, and other things that will make them feel better and stay healthy longer, patients don't feel like I'm “instructing” them or “ordering” them as a nurse. I'm speaking to them from the perspective of someone who has seen a loved one suffer needlessly, and I'm sharing my own personal experience to help prevent a similar outcome for them and their families.
Auntie Lib would be proud to know that I am following her example and helping others. I use that knowledge every day to help as many people as I can. I cherish the time I spend with Auntie Lib, and I want my patients to enjoy as much time as possible with their family and friends.
Kelly Pressley is a Registered Nurse Care Manager at Interwell Health. She has been caring for patients with kidney disease for nearly 20 years.
