A Poignant Moment

During our recce of the Renal Care Centre, the full force of the seriousness of kidney failure had not hit us... yet.


It was an eye opener for us when we visited the Adventist Hospital's Renal Care Centre in Penang. None of my family members or anyone I know of are facing kidney related illness, making this trip a poignant one for us.



WOLFANG DIGITAL traveled to Penang to produce a Product Video for B. Braun Avitum- an internationally renowned pioneer and manufacturer of medical products for treatment of extracorporeal blood treatment (out of body blood cleansing or haemodialysis) based in Germany.

During our recce of the Renal Care Centre, the full force of the seriousness of kidney failure did not hit us... yet. It wasn't until when we started the Videography session when reality descended. We were told that the rows of reclined patients were in various stages of kidney failure.

The head nurse continued to tell us of the three times a week dialysis sessions where each patient had to undergo five to six hours of treatment costing RM 250 a session. It wasn't just the financial aspect of it that disturbed us, it was the abrupt change in lifestyle not to mention the distress each time a needle pierces a vein AND artery. All physical activity had to be kept to a minimum and a strict dieting regime is implemented.



I had to set up the camera in front of the patients although my subject was not the patient but the dialysis machine drawing out their blood, cleaning it and transporting it back to their body. They seemed pleasant enough but by looking at them, I could sense that they had resigned to their fate but always, there was a glimmer of hope.

We all learned that high blood pressure and diabetes led to kidney failure. To anyone out there reading this, take good care of your kidneys. Drink lots of fluids, cut down on your sugar and salt intake and exercise regularly. Being put on dialysis will not just put your life on hold, it will inconvenience your loved ones too.

Photos were taken with my K800i for archiving purposes.