Living On The Edge

By Louisa Ausai-Magele

If you have been diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Failure, or any other Chronic Degenerative Disease, this book may be helpful in supporting yourself as a patient, a family member, or a friend whose personal life has been massively influenced by such a calamity. This book “Living On The Edge,” was written not only to share the story of my real experiences as a kidney patient, but it also tells how my illness tremendously crushed my life, my career, my finances, my marriage, and my day-to-day choices. It also talks about my trials and tribulations, which really put me on the edge of losing my sanity. Along with my journey as a kidney patient, I learned the pitfalls and setbacks, a patient faces when dealing with the realities of doing peritoneal and hemodialysis. The risks a patient is subjected to by taking various medications with side effects which develop more health problems. This book also tells how I managed unwarranted stress, highs and lows; a patient is obligated to handle and manage financial responsibilities and healthcare insurances.

I told my story in order beginning from the first event until the last. They are all based on my real experiences, to offer knowledge and strength, to keep you from becoming a victim of irresponsible healthcare employees or unethical medical practices. If you or a family member encounter medical negligence, I hope my story might aid in evaluating your own situation or cope with any catastrophe. Instead of you feeling depressed and hopeless, my story motivates you to stand strong and shelter yourself or a loved one from any storm

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louisa Ausai-Magele
• Release date: Mar 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781945975134

Book preview

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Louisa Ausai-Magele

Living on the Edge

Copyright 2017 Louisa Ausai-Magele

Published by EA Books Publishing, a division of

Living Parables of Central Florida, Inc. a 501c3

EABooksPublishing.com

at Smashwords

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated,

are from The King James Version.

The KJV is public domain in the United States.

ISBN: 978-1-945975-13-4

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

With love to our devoted father, Ausai Tupai-Magele and mother, Feagaima’alii Tagaloa Nofoagatotoa Pouoa Uasu.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Biggest Regret

Chapter 2 A Birthday Gift

Chapter 3 Unfortunate Discovery

Chapter 4 First Kidney Biopsy

Chapter 5 Faith in Prayers

Chapter 6 Welcome Home

Chapter 7 Duties and Decisions

Chapter 8 Catheter Insertion

Chapter 9 Peritoneal Dialysis Training

Chapter 10 Life vs. Work

Chapter 11 Medical Retirement

Chapter 12 Financial Nightmare

Chapter 13 Legal Separation and Home Restoration

Chapter 14 A New Beginning

Chapter 15 Kidney Transplant

Chapter 16 Steroid Side Effects

Chapter 17 Recovery vs. Medications

Chapter 18 Stresses and Kidney Rejection

Chapter 19 Second Hospitalization at UMC-Tucson

Chapter 20 Back on Peritoneal Dialysis

Chapter 21 Switched to Hemodialysis

Chapter 22 Start Anew

Chapter 23 Second Stroke

Chapter 24 Brain Surgery & Seizure

Chapter 25 Move to California

Notes

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my editor, Peter Lundell for his masterful developmental editing and brilliant suggestions, especially his patience and compassion that assisted me to complete writing this book.

I am also grateful for my brother, Pastor Sunuialaifale Nofoagatotoa Magele for prayers and blessings to achieve this goal. I am very blessed and grateful for your constructive feedback, support and help. Without all your effort to assist me, I could not achieve this dream.

Thank you to the team at EABooks Publishing for bringing this dream to reality

Preface

In 2006 I began my journey as a kidney patient and progressed to end-stage renal failure. You may have a similar health problem. Or you may be a supportive family member or friend.

I hope my story might be helpful in evaluating your own situation as a kidney patient, or as a patient with any other kind of chronic or degenerative disease. I also hope my experiences might benefit you if you are supporting a loved one who has kidney or another disease. I believe that you’ll discover how similar our experiences are.

Most of the medical professionals I have dealt with are true professionals who care and have done their best to help me. Unfortunately, some in the medical field, perhaps 5 percent, do not follow proper procedures, and their negligence costs patients unnecessary pain and in extreme cases their lives. I was horrified at how easily I could become a victim of a mistake by those I trusted to help me overcome my life-threatening illness. I was raised to believe I could always trust medical professionals to do everything in their power to help me. I believed they would be diligent, effective, and would only do what was required to treat me.

I was sadly mistaken.

In a 2013 nationwide study, The Leapfrog Group (America’s leading advocacy organization for hospital quality, safety, and transparency) estimated that 440,000 people die annually from preventable hospital errors. 1 This puts medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States, underscoring the need for patients to protect themselves and their families from harm, and for hospitals to make patient safety a priority."

Through my experiences I learned that patients have to take responsibility for managing their illnesses. At times, they must go against their doctors’ advice or recommendations and choose the path that is best for them. Out of respect for the privacy of many of the people discussed in my book, I have changed the names of the individuals involved in my experiences. However, I have disclosed the names of the hospitals I was admitted to and dealt with.

I sincerely hope that by reading about my experiences, both good and bad, you or your loved one can avoid or overcome some of the many problems I encountered. I tell my experiences in order to offer knowledge and strength to keep you or your loved one from becoming a victim of irresponsible healthcare employees or unethical medical practices.

I also hope that sharing my experiences can help you turn the negative aspects of dealing with catastrophic illness into something positive, or at least something tolerable.

My story is told in order, beginning from the first event until the last, and all are based on real experience.

Introduction

I grew up on the island of Western Samoa. As a child, I was active in sports, church, and family activities. I didn’t realize then how healthy and happy my life was.

At Falealili High School in Western Samoa, I achieved a Straight-As certification. It secured my spot to attend Teachers’ Training College for two years. I completed two years in college and at age twenty started to teach in public schools. While teaching was certainly an honorable profession, it did not pay very well. I also learned that I was not as well equipped to deal with the political antics in the school management and environment as I thought I was. I became disenchanted with my chosen profession and decided to move on.

My faith played a major role in my upbringing. So I left my employment as a teacher to serve as a church missionary with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the island of Samoa. After serving one-and-a-half-years in the mission, I taught at Pesega, an LDS Elementary School.

Then I emigrated to the United States. I worked diligently to start my life over again, further my education, and find a better profession. I thought nursing would be an excellent career. There is always a need for good nurses. As I progressed through my school and practical training, I accepted a position as a Certified Nursing Assistant. But I quickly discovered I could not stomach the idea of cleaning up after sick patients, nor could I handle getting spattered by any form of human body fluids or waste. I didn’t have the stomach for it and was continually nauseated and vomiting.

Then I discovered that I had a natural inclination for the security profession. I began my career working for airport security aviation as an entry-level officer at the San Francisco International airport while attending San Francisco State University part time, taking Human Resource Management for two years. It was the perfect fit as a career field for my personality and strong work ethic. I found the work interesting, and felt a sense of accomplishment that I was providing a vital service toward the security of my adopted country. My enthusiasm for the work and my developing skills in aviation security contributed to my rapid promotion to Checkpoint Security Supervisor, Duty Manager, and Human Resources Office Administrative Assistant. Eventually I was promoted to the position of Operation Manager. I was able to achieve all of my goals with International Total Services, Inc., because I focused and worked hard. I made it my mission to learn as much as I could about every aspect of contract aviation security that I possibly could. I applied what I learned and excelled in each position. To me it was painfully obvious that anyone who wanted to succeed could apply the same work ethic and achieve the same kind of recognition.

Throughout my young adult life, I was accustomed to working two jobs and attending school part time. Working long hours seemed only natural, something to be endured to meet my life goals. In pursuit of the American dream, I bought my own home in the best neighborhood I could possibly afford, along with a timeshare at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. In addition, to sacrifice and prepare for my future, I bought land in Los Angeles and Lancaster, California. My humble upbringing as a hardworking farm girl in Samoa helped me develop the ability to overlook the pleasures most people enjoy while they are young. Besides working double jobs, and attending school part time, I was also a member of the World Financial Group (WFG), California, and achieved a license as a Life Insurance agent. I did not spend money on clothes, a fancy car, or nights out with friends on the weekends. Mine was truly a Spartan lifestyle. In 2000 I met my husband, a retired police officer from Antioch, California, who became a self-employed private investigator and a firearms instructor. We dated for four years before finally tying the knot.

After the world-changing events of 9/11, I found myself working for the Federal Aviation Administration as a temporary Aviation Security Inspector. It was a dream come true working for the United States of America. I attended a six-week-training course in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where I had to pass six tests, all with 85 percent or more, to achieve my certification as an Aviation Security Inspector. There were only two colored students in the class, a man from Guam and me. As intimidated as I felt, I passed all the requirements and got my certification.

After six months I was hired by the newly formed Transportation Security Administration as a Transportation Security Manager (TSM). I was offered an even higher salary than I’d had previously. With sacrifice, dedication, and hard work, I achieved an unimaginable goal for a farm girl from the small island of Samoa. I was blessed. I had become a United States citizen and a respected manager within the United States Government.

Although I was ambitious and continued striving forward, all of this was slowly destroying the young, strong Samoan girl in me. I never saw it coming. My position was incredibly stressful and required that I supervised more than three hundred government employees who were in direct contact with the traveling public, airport employees, and vendors. I was responsible for all security operations within the airport. As you might well imagine the responsibility was, at times, overwhelming.

Stress can kill.

1

The Biggest Regret

Young, healthy, and ambitious, for several years I did not feel the need to have a medical checkup. My negligence to see a physician all those years is the biggest regret of my life.

At first, I started feeling fatigued more often than usual. Then came a sharp pain in my lower back. It lasted for a few seconds, then it was gone, and I didn’t pay much attention to it. I thought the fatigue and pain was the result of working extended hours without eating a healthy diet and not getting sufficient rest. Taking a couple