Javier Firpo
02/27/2021 3:51 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 02/27/2021 3:51 PM
At the bar in front of the German Hospital, there is a merry atmosphere at the largest table.
At first glance, they seem like lifelong friends who review anecdotes.
Jorge Surín, Darío Giovanoudis, Cristian Reynoso and Claudio Zippes, fifty-year-old professionals,
met just over three years ago and since then they have been inseparable ...
even in the pandemic they reinvented feasts for Zoom because they missed each other.
But this bar of friends
saw their faces for the first time doing dialysis at the German Hospital
, back in June 2017. There were 12 patients in a large room, and while they had their arms outstretched connected to the dialyzer, they were watching their faces.
"
I threw the first stone, I realized that they could be cool
. And I was not wrong," says Claudio, an architect, who a month before starting his treatment suffered the death of Silvia, his lifelong wife.
"We found in our bond a healing and saving friendship," say the four.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden
Claudio (59) is talkative and funny, despite being the bravest one.
"My transplantologist told me that
if I don't lose 20 kilos, I won't be able to operate
when the opportunity comes. It's not easy at my age, but it's a challenge I have for this year. I
weigh 130 and I have to be 110 at most. ", he explains without victimizing himself
.
"Boys - change the tonic - look, I reserved three nights to go to the Galana Coast in Mar del Plata in April, eh".
The four began to be nicknamed as "
the quilombera bar of the shift from 17 to 22"
.
The session became fun with these pranksters who even made fun of themselves.
"
What are you laughing at?
Don't you realize what is happening to you?" Asked friends and acquaintances, amazed at not seeing them affected or depressed.
"
From the beginning we set out to have a good time,
" they say in chorus.
They have come to have lunch with bills and dine on pizzas and empanadas that they brought by delivery that they ordered themselves,
with the permission of supervisors and the inclusion of doctors and nurses in the banquet
.
"It became an escape valve", describes Jorge.
"It was a party, the beer and the canapés were missing
," Cristian exaggerates.
Coffee and croissants.
Darío, Cristian, Claudio and Jorge have a picnic at "the meeting bar" and talk with Clarín.
They know everything about each other, as if this brand new friendship dates back to their youth.
"I was surprised by this connection that we hit,
I even discovered another personality, with them I am extroverted, fucking,
when in general at home I was always more withdrawn and conservative," reveals Darío.
"It is that if you do not put a quota of optimism to this
, it becomes very difficult,
" adds Cristian.
That is why Claudio insists with the little escape to Mar del Plata, where this men's poker has already been twice.
"We have been partying since we got in the car ...
there is life beyond dialysis,
" Cristian laughs.
"We went alone, without women or children, it is a trip that
we do to nurture friendship and recharge batteries,
especially for the two who have to wait for the transplant," adds Darío.
"Do you know what happens? -Jorge was
melonendo-
,
people do not know what it is to
undergo dialysis.
There are those who suppose that it is chemotherapy, those who tell them and practically do extreme unction and there are no shortage of those who walk away as soon as you explain them .
Nobody understands us, there is a
lot of
loneliness, is very personal, only those who are hours
enduring punctures know what it is. "
The friendship that grew up on dialysis.
Jorge, Cristian and Darío accompany Claudio, who has a turn in minutes.
"We are here to accompany and listen," they say.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden
They speak of fear, self-preservation, and an environment that sometimes doesn't know how to respond.
"I have two brothers and there was
never a situation in which they offered to donate a kidney to me
, my children did, but I flatly refused," says Claudio.
"The same thing happened with my daughter, but I did not accept and my mother, aged 78, did all the studies because she was desperate but
with the doctor 'we agreed' that she was not compatible with me,
" says Jorge.
The medical director once advised the four of them separately.
"Think of yourself.
Never pay attention to what happens neither to your left nor to your right.
Concentrate on your problem, because each body reacts as it can", a euphemism that, in other words, suggested that a partner could be there today and not tomorrow.
"
In these four years 15 people who were around me
, large, medium and small have died. I greeted them on Friday and they were gone on Monday. Imagine how that affects you," says Claudio stoically.
The arms are one of the main "victims" of dialysis, as Cristian Reynoso shows, who has been in treatment for 3 years and 10 months.
Anyway, today Claudio and Cristian, as happened with Jorge and Darío, and with thousands of people who are dialysed, live thanks to this treatment.
"
Although life is harder, we live it, we do not survive it,
" Jorge and Darío graph.
Suddenly, the word "acceptance" emerges.
"Beyond the fact that we like the party, we accept the disease we have.
We accept it from the beginning, without discussion, without denial
, that's why we take care of ourselves and give ourselves to treatment, which improves your day to day, without a doubt", Jorge reflects.
Cristian Reynoso, 56, an accountant, has been on dialysis for 3 years and 10 months.
"It is hard, the head does not stop, but I am clear that at some point my kidney will arrive."
Photo Fernando de la Orden
Claudio and Cristian, more united because they are also those who continue in treatment, insist with a concept: "As heavy and tiring as it is, we are
grateful that dialysis exists, because otherwise we would be underground
. It is the only thing that keeps us with life ", they emphasize.
"
We never asked ourselves 'Why us?'. It was our turn, period
. I spent five years coming here - points out Aleman - and I tried to keep my life going as far as possible," adds Darío.
Despite the seriousness with which the hard moments they had to retrace, and that two of them are still going through,
complicity, camaraderie and a lot of mischief vibrate in this quartet,
which has a WhatsApp group with the name of a well-known cabaret.
"We become pirates but we all have solid marriages of more than 30 years and with my wife we had 30 years until a sudden cancer left her without chances," says Claudio,
Jorge Surín, 57, a lawyer, did dialysis for two years.
"Giving up dialysis, which saved my life, is a relief, because in addition to getting rid of the punctures, one leaves 5-6 hours per session there."
Photo Fernando de la Orden
They met on equal terms, waiting for the blessed transplant,
but today the situation changed: Jorge and Darío were operated on in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
"In the beginning
I felt
a bit guilty, because one wonders 'Why me and him not?'
.
I was happy with my new kidney, with my life that was being re-signified, but I had that mixed feeling ", Jorge confesses, something that did not happen to Darío." I was the oldest in the dialysis room, I had been for 5 and a half years. .. You
have to cope with it, what better than with these friends,
but when it touched me it was a relief even though the first weeks were very hard, as the kidney did not adapt to my body ".
"With the new kidney, I returned to normality, although with a lot of care, master of my time because I did not have to go to dialysis three times a week, almost five hours each time. There
were more than 300 sessions and 700 punctures.
Look
.
my arm, "shows Jorge.
And so does the rest.
The common denominator: strong but punished arms, which seem to have come from war ... victorious.
Darío Giovanoudis, 56, an accountant, was on dialysis for 5 and a half years.
"Treatment changes your life, you have to do it seriously, accept the disease, take care of yourself with meals," he says.
Photo Fernando de la Orden
"I want to say something - Cristian requests -. I listened to Jorge and the news of his transplant and Darío's were the best news we could have. That gives us hope, there is a way out and we are happy for them. Our relationship has been strengthened: here there is no jealousy or envy.
We learned to manage anxiety
. "
An anxiety that is inevitable, especially at the beginning of treatment.
"I went to the Incucai website, where is the list of those waiting for an organ, I saw myself in a very distant location and it drove me crazy. One day I was number 30, another day 50, 70 and so on. It made me sick, until we talked about it with the boys and they told me to forget about it, it was useless, "confesses Jorge.
Claudio Zippes, 59, architect, has been on dialysis for 4 years and 2 months.
"I have a challenge before the transplant, which is to lose twenty kilos. Otherwise, they will not operate on me," says the most sparkling of the group.
Photo Fernando de la Orden
"The fundamentals for a transplant," says Darío.
It is what is called
crossmatch
,
a test in which the compatibility between one's body and the organ
that is to come
is measured
.
But there are also other factors no less decisive such as not taking medication, not having a fever, not being overweight, "specifies Darío." I participated in an operation, that is, there was a death and a kidney appeared that could be compatible with me .
But he
was part of a group of 20 in need of that kidney,
whose fate would be for the one who met the best conditions. "
Those who undergo dialysis have to do a treatment that takes about 12 hours a week.
"Life turns 180 degrees.
You can't even think of a week's vacation
unless you travel to a place where you can do dialysis ", Claudio launches with some frustration." I ditch because I spend the summer in Mar del Plata, which has a beautiful center in front of the sea, "says Jorge .
"
Fuck everything you can but always within the law
, that is, accept the disease, do the treatment with discipline, try to be in weight and have faith, that everything comes. This is an eventuality, we do not lose our lives, welcome that dialysis exists, otherwise we would all be dead, "is the final message of this group of friends on World Organ Transplant Day, which is celebrated this Saturday.
And Jorge and Darío lower the blind: "
It is vital to encourage people to donate organs, otherwise none of this would make sense
."
ACE
Look also
The closure of El Obrero: the hidden treasures of the still life of La Boca that took the pandemic
In the name of the son: the life that was extinguished to save the lives of four other people