Post Date December, 03 2023
Zhang Peng and Zhang Xuan were walking to the bus stop and happened to pass the road sign of the Anti Japanese War Memorial Hall. Both brothers have uremia, and in order to maintain their lives, they have to go to the hospital for hemodialysis every other day. In these days, my brother Zhang Peng spent five years and my brother Zhang Xuan spent three years. In the face of suffering from illness and huge medical expenses, the family has repeatedly fallen into desperate situations, but their extraordinary optimism and strength have enabled them to persist until now. Mother said that after eight years of victory in the War of Resistance, her two sons would definitely win the war of defending their lives. (Photographic report produced by Tencent Charity Foundation/edited by Du Guanglei/Chen Yihan and Wei Zhuohui)
Due to family genetic reasons, the two brothers developed kidney disease and were initially unaware of it. Later, my brother and younger brother fell ill one after another, and after examination, it was discovered that they had developed into uremia. Due to their weakness and inability to engage in more intense activities, the brothers spend most of their daily leisure time sitting in bed playing with their mobile phones. In 2013, they left their hometown to seek medical treatment in Beijing, and now the three of them live in a rental house of more than ten square meters. Apart from going to the hospital for dialysis, the brothers rarely go out. A few years ago, as their illness worsened, they successively suspended their studies and lost the opportunity to sit in class with their peers for education.
My younger brother Zhang Xuan is lying in bed eating tomatoes. The brothers have now reached the anuria stage of uremia, and water cannot be discharged from the body. Therefore, it is necessary to exercise extreme control over drinking water, otherwise excessive accumulation of water in the body will cause symptoms such as edema. Sometimes when I'm really thirsty, I just eat a tomato to quench my thirst.
The brothers are weak and prone to catching colds when they blow electric fans. In the stuffy cabin, only my mother can blow the fan herself, while the brothers gradually get used to the temperature and sweat to help drain water from their bodies.
My brother is reading a recommended recipe for kidney disease patients, but the conditions are limited. It is difficult for the two brothers to eat the above dishes, and occasionally having a meal of meat is considered a nutritional supplement. Mom always hates to eat meat, saying that watching her brothers eat makes her happy and feels like she's wasting it.
My mother was cooking local specialty pasta while chatting with my son. Although the food is often very simple, the mother carefully prepares every meal for her son.
"My brother is very sensible, and I'm afraid it's too hot for my mother to come over and fan for her when she's cooking.". Due to his illness, Zhang Peng could hardly do any housework, for which he was also very guilty. "He said that children his age can earn money to support his family, but he still needs his mother to take care of him. He felt sorry for her.".
After long-term dialysis and needle insertion, the brothers left obvious scars on their arms.
The two brothers have become accustomed to the life of going to the hospital for dialysis. When they arrived at the hospital, they skillfully changed into hospital clothes and prepared for dialysis. This hospital is the only hospital that my mother has found throughout Beijing that can perform dialysis for both sons at the same time. Because my brother needs to be in the adult department and my brother needs to be in the children's department, many hospitals cannot meet such special needs.
Every time a dialysis needle is inserted, my younger brother has to watch the needle insert into the blood vessel with his own eyes. He said that if he didn't look at the needle, he was afraid that his arm would move when suddenly stabbed, and if he didn't get it right, he would have to get another shot.
The dialysis machine shows that the remaining time is three hours and forty minutes. Each dialysis takes four hours, and these four hours have become an important part of the brothers' lives.
During the long dialysis process, both of them were somewhat tired. "But they try not to sleep, fearing that if they fall asleep, they may be tempted by needles.".
During dialysis, my brother felt that he had symptoms of fever, and the nurse came to touch his forehead to test the temperature.
Zhang Xuan was afraid of the dialysis tube slipping and always held it very carefully.
Every time the dialysis is over, my mother will come over to deliver food to my brothers. Before I could make it that day, my mother bought shredded pork pancakes for the two brothers from the hospital canteen. "My younger brother said, 'Next time, just buy a vegetarian pancake. It's also delicious, and it's also four yuan cheaper.'".
In addition to dialysis, they also need to take a large amount of medication. Patients with uremia generally have high blood pressure, and the brothers need to take six types of antihypertensive drugs alone.
If they stay bored at home, they will play a game of chess in the Chu River and Han Dynasty.
My younger brother stared at a small goldfish he had raised and said he admired the fish because it could drink water in large gulps. Now, each of the brothers drinks less than one mineral water bottle per day.
On a new day, the brothers are waiting at the bus stop to go to the hospital. Frequent dialysis at two points and one line has become their daily cycle of fatigue, which can only be broken by kidney replacement, making it possible for them to return to their normal life trajectory. The two of them waited quietly, waiting for a new turning point in their lives.
