JHAH Al-Hasa unveils two new services for gastroenterology and dialysis patients
January 19, 2025
If the definition of ‘dedication’ is the willingness to give a lot of time and energy to something because you believe it is important, then the Dhahran Oasis Quilt Guild has taken dedication to an entirely new level with their 2024 gift to JHAH newborns babies and their mothers, which marks the guild’s 21st anniversary of continued generosity.
"Your hands craft more than quilts; they weave threads of hope and comfort into the lives of our little ones,” said Hani Ayyad, JHAH Chief Nursing Officer. “I am humbled by your dedication and thank the Dhahran Oasis Quilt Guild for its unwavering 21 years of heartfelt generosity to our neonatal community."
Hani was speaking to a group of talented quilters from the guild on Sunday, May 19, when they visited the JHAH Neonatal Unit (NICU) to deliver their gifts of beautifully quilted blankets to the babies born in the JHAH Women and Children Department.
“Every stitch, every patch, every thread you have woven with love. Thank you, Dhahran Oasis Quilters Guild, for wrapping our tiniest miracles in warmth and comfort for an impressive 21 years.” said Greer Barlow, Senior Nursing Director, JHAH Women and Children Department. “Each quilt is a masterpiece, with every stitch representing creative mastery and kindness. On behalf of all our tiny miracles who pass through the JHAH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued dedication and loyal support.”
Words from our specialists:
Dr. Elsadig Mohamed Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Consultant, JHAH Al-Hasa
Automated peritoneal dialysis
Peritoneal dialysis helps patients who have suffered from kidney failure to filter waste materials out of their blood. A surgeon places a catheter in the patient’s abdomen three to four weeks before the first dialysis session. Dialysis solution is then passed from a bag through the catheter into the patient’s abdomen, where it absorbs waste materials and surplus fluid. After a few hours, the used dialysis solution is drained out of the abdomen, through the catheter into a drain bag.
With automated peritoneal dialysis, this procedure is carried out effortlessly by a machine during the night, while the patient is asleep. This means that the patient does not need to manually fill or empty dialysis fluid from their abdomen multiple times throughout the day.
Automated peritoneal dialysis also has several advantages over hemodialysis, the traditional procedure for cleaning the blood of patients who have suffered kidney failure.
With hemodialysis, clinicians first carry out a surgical procedure to make an arteriovenous fistula — an artificial blood vessel created by joining an artery with a vein — about two months before the first hemodialysis session. The patient’s arteriovenous fistula is then connected by needles and tubes to a hemodialysis machine, which draws blood out of the body, cleans it, and returns it to the body. Each hemodialysis session takes about four hours, and most patients need two or three sessions of hemodialysis per week, typically in a hospital.
Expert insight:
Dr. Usman Afzal Internal Medicine and Nephrology Consultant, JHAH Al-Hasa
“We are proud to add the service to our ever-growing list of treatment options at JHAH Al-Hasa.”