The wheel of life: revelations of a patient undergoing hemodialysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Objective: to reconstruct, through listening, the life history of a female chronic renal patient who underwent hemodialysis. Methodology: oral life history was used, within a qualitative approach. For this, the study had the approval by the Research Ethics Committee of Hospital Universitario Onofre Lopes (HUOL), under the Protocol 591/2011 and the CAAE 0125.0.051.29-11. As instrument to approach the patient, interviews with open questions were held, carried out in the patient's home. There were five meetings, in which her history, experiences, and ways of coping during her course of illness and treatment were heard. The analysis was ruled by the collaborator's narratives, anchored in studies concerning oral history and human subjectivity, highlighting resilience. Results: in the reconstruction of the collaborator's life history, a chronic renal patient who underwent hemodialysis for 16 years, there were many moments for reflection, so that we could think through the caring process in a better way, as the essence of nursing. The optimism she expressed when speaking of her life ‒ marked by difficulties, with unexpected situations, and the very process of illness and treatment ‒ showed an endless hope. Conclusion: her story leads us to conclude that, despite life adversities and suffering, there is, in human being, the strength to navigate through the streams and reach happiness. That is the lesson our collaborator gives. Descriptors: nursing; renal insufficiency, chronic; resilience, psychological; renal dialysis.