C7

By KELLY ATHERTON
For The Daily Gleaner

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I write to bring attention to the fact and extreme frustration that five expensive, lifesaving hemo-dialysis units still sit idle in our Waterville hospital four days a week.

This is despite the fact that this service was promised to us prior to construction of our new hospital which opened two years ago.

My mother began a weekly commute of over 1,200 kilometres from Woodstock to Saint John recently for her four-hour treatment. The Fredericton dialysis unit has no space for her - or even for some residents of Fredericton who also have to travel to Saint John. My mother is No. 6 on the Waterville waiting list.

It pains me to see the discomfort she is in on this treacherous drive. Dialysis treatment leaves patients completely drained and totally exhausted.

I feel that the government of this province is treating my mother as a second class citizen in a third-world country for making her complete this journey on a regular basis, considering we have the same equipment sitting idle 10 minutes away.

Winter is rapidly approaching, complete with hazardous road conditions - snowstorms, blizzards, freezing rain and closed highways. Compounding the issue, the provincial transportation website states that "This year, roughly 300 New Brunswickers will collide with a moose." (www.gnb.ca/0113/moose/think-moose-e.asp)

Dialysis appointments must be kept - regardless of weather conditions - three times a week, 52 weeks a year. This is a matter of life and death.

It is devastating enough for someone to be facing kidney failure and dialysis treatments, without all the added stress, expense and complications for the need to travel all these miles, week after week.

It costs $45 a day for gas alone. This is expensive for anyone, let alone seniors or those unable to work due to illness.

Kidney disease affects many more New Brunswickers than those who are on the waiting list for local treatment.

There are dozens of local people in pre-dialysis as well as a number who are currently doing peritoneal dialysis at home. All of these people may require hemo-dialysis treatment in hospital at any time. Any of these patients may also need to begin the regular commute to Saint John to sustain life at any time.

Thus far, the many pleas from kidney patients have fallen on deaf ears. Little response from government, although I did receive a phone call from David Alward.

Thankfully, the media has thought this critical issue deserves attention. My sincerest thanks goes out to The Bugle-Observer, The Telegraph Journal and other outlets that have helped bring this to light.

It is my deepest hope that one of you will be able to pressure government into action. I'm assuming our government is hoping that I will get exhausted and fade away. I just can't or won't allow that happen. This situation is just plain wrong.

There is a common phrase that goes something like "A community (read province) is only as strong and healthy as the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens." Is our provincial ship sinking?

I just can't and won't believe that this barbaric situation cannot be remedied immediately. I would think the government would be happy to be tasked with such an easy problem to solve.

I'm not asking for new equipment or a new department or wing to be constructed. I'm only asking that funding be put in place to operate the equipment we have three additional days a week to alleviate a terrible hardship that has been placed upon my mother and others in her compromised condition.

This situation needs to be changed immediately. Now - before winter strikes. Now - before someone dies on our roadways travelling for treatment.

We have the equipment - we just need to be able to use it.

Kelly Atherton lives in Woodstock and her mother lives in Upper Woodstock. Send comments to

letters@dailygleaner.com.