Survivors--dialysis, immigration, and U.S. law.

摘要

Santiago is in the ERagain. He sits in a special row of 20 patients, all of whom are waiting for one result: the potassium. Is it high enough today? Two days ago he was here, and it was only 6 meq per liter. We discharged him. Right now his chest hurts, and he is short of breath. Nothing new, and Santiago knows that if he's to be dialyzed today, these symptoms don't matter. Only the potassium matters.One of us is the nephrologist on service, and the other is the hospitalist taking admissions. We both trained here as medical students and have continued to work in the county hospital system as faculty members. Some of these patients remember us as residents. Now they recognize us as the gatekeepers, the people deciding which patients go home and which sit in the chair. We know them, too.