VOA常速英语2007年-Children on Dialysis Maintain Hope Despite Diff

By Alex Villarreal
Washington
05 November 2007
 

The United Network for Organ Sharing reports that more than 73,000 Americans are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Most of them suffer from kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease. Kidney disease most commonly affects adults, but many children suffer from it, too. VOA's Alex Villarreal reports from Washington, D.C.

At first glance, Daniela Joya, 13, does not look like she spends three days a week in a hospital. But until she gets a new kidney, she has no other choice.

Daniela is one of 35 children on dialysis for kidney failure at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington. She explains her routine: "Today I received dialysis…Monday, Wednesday, Friday...and they have to stick me with needles."

Dialysis is a treatment used to perform the functions of healthy kidneys. Daniela and some of the other Children's patients go to the hospital three times a week for their treatments. They are hooked up to a machine that removes waste and extra water from their blood, just like healthy kidneys do. Each session lasts up to four hours.

"Dialysis takes a lot out of our patients. You know, it's a big chunk¹ out of their lives. They're missing school, they're missing a lot of the social activities, they're not able to eat and drink a lot of the things that all their friends do," says Kathleen Moylan, Clinical Manager of the hospital's dialysis unit.

Daniela says the toll² on friendships is difficult to overcome. "It's hard, because when I go to school, all the friends I had, they don't talk to me, so they just say, 'Why don't you come everyday?'" she says. "And I don't know how to explain, because they don't know [anything] about kidney failure."

These struggles trigger a range of emotions, says Moylan. "There's denial, there's anger, there's anxiety, there's stress," she explains.

But on this day, the dialysis patients at Children's added a different emotion to that list.

The center hosted a fashion show called "Gowns with an Attitude." The event allowed the children to model their own hospital gown designs while raising awareness³ for organ donation.

Judy Ross specializes in child development and mental health at the hospital. She says she started the fashion show to give the kidney patients a positive experience. "They're doing something fun. They're coming here not for their treatment, but to the hospital for something that's just for them, something that's enjoyable, and something that they have created and they have a voice in," says Ross.

As Daniela pranced⁴ down the runway, it was easy to see the effect on her. "This gown project has given her so much joy and confidence and so much fun," says Ross.

Another model, Salematou Traore, also showed a triumphant⁵ smile to the crowd. Traore is a former dialysis patient. She was 14 when she learned she had kidney failure. She says it took her a while to come to terms with it. "I was sad for a while, that my life changed so fast and so soon," she says.

After four years on dialysis, Traore got a new kidney from her cousin. She wants people to understand the transplant's importance in her recovery. "Consider being an organ donor⁶. They label it as life-bettering, but for me, I know that it saved my life, because I didn't know how much longer I would have been able to be on dialysis and stay alive, or stay healthy on dialysis. So, just consider it," she urges as she begins crying.

Ross says Traore is an inspiration for children still waiting for a transplant.  

"I just say to myself, 'I know I'm gonna get a transplant, I know I'm gonna do better,'" says Daniela Joya. Until then, dialysis will keep Daniela and her hopes alive.

Moylan says children can wait up to three or four years for a transplant. In 2005, the United Network for Organ Sharing adopted a policy putting children ahead of adults on the waiting list for kidneys from deceased donors⁷ under 35. The network says children have received transplants more quickly since the policy took effect.

1 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 pranced   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their horses pranced and whinnied. 他们的马奔腾着、嘶鸣着。 来自辞典例句
• The little girl pranced about the room in her new clothes. 小女孩穿着新衣在屋里雀跃。 来自辞典例句

5 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》