Collected Item: “Dwelyn Williams Oral History, 2022/09/16”
Title
Mr. Dwelyn Williams
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Dwelyn Williams
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#Arizona, #artist, #author, #Black, #compassion, #curiosity, #dialysis, #friendship, #gratitude, #healthcare, #loner, #masks, #motherhood, #Phoenix, #PPE, #teamwork, #technician
What is the format of your recording?
Audio
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
USA, Arizona, Phoenix
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Mr.
What is the age of the interviewee?
45 to 54
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
African American
Describe the oral history.
Some of the things we discussed include:
- Working as a dialysis technician for 22 years.
- Mother having had End Stage Renal Disease; treating people being cared for like they were her.
- Living in Orlando, Florida when COVID hit and teaching in Orange County Public Schools.
- Being at a conference in March 2020 in Las Vegas, changing safety precautions, a colleague getting sick.
- How being an essential healthcare worker changed experiences of lockdown.
- Seeing PPE outside of healthcare facilities, more hand washing, working long hours.
- Isolation as a loner.
- Seeing the same people in the dialysis facility multiple times a week, feeling more like family.
- Treatment delays and less consistent operations in the dialysis clinic due to COVID.
- Healthcare professionals wearing a mask all day; eye contact and masking.
- Burnout.
- Teamwork to manage the caseload during the pandemic.
- Not using the word “patient”, but rather referring to them as “people” and using their names.
- Compassion and avoiding judgment, working for solutions.
- Needing to go beyond health advocacy, taking initiative and accountability.
- Learning about one’s own potential during the pandemic: becoming a graphic novelist and writing a story about mother’s experience of dialysis; working with a new organization, Kidney Trails.
- Legacy.
Other cultural references: Certified Clinical Hemodialysis Technician, the film Contagion (2011), Sam and Lacy Trevino (https://www.freseniuskidneycare.com/thrive-central/meet-sam), Marvel, DC, National Association of Nephrology Technicians/Technologist, Bob Marley, Artwork for my cover photo and all of my illustration are done by Tori Harris.
See also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LAqpfW-CWo
https://kidneytrails.com/bookstore/
https://pkdcure.org/community/phoenix/
- Working as a dialysis technician for 22 years.
- Mother having had End Stage Renal Disease; treating people being cared for like they were her.
- Living in Orlando, Florida when COVID hit and teaching in Orange County Public Schools.
- Being at a conference in March 2020 in Las Vegas, changing safety precautions, a colleague getting sick.
- How being an essential healthcare worker changed experiences of lockdown.
- Seeing PPE outside of healthcare facilities, more hand washing, working long hours.
- Isolation as a loner.
- Seeing the same people in the dialysis facility multiple times a week, feeling more like family.
- Treatment delays and less consistent operations in the dialysis clinic due to COVID.
- Healthcare professionals wearing a mask all day; eye contact and masking.
- Burnout.
- Teamwork to manage the caseload during the pandemic.
- Not using the word “patient”, but rather referring to them as “people” and using their names.
- Compassion and avoiding judgment, working for solutions.
- Needing to go beyond health advocacy, taking initiative and accountability.
- Learning about one’s own potential during the pandemic: becoming a graphic novelist and writing a story about mother’s experience of dialysis; working with a new organization, Kidney Trails.
- Legacy.
Other cultural references: Certified Clinical Hemodialysis Technician, the film Contagion (2011), Sam and Lacy Trevino (https://www.freseniuskidneycare.com/thrive-central/meet-sam), Marvel, DC, National Association of Nephrology Technicians/Technologist, Bob Marley, Artwork for my cover photo and all of my illustration are done by Tori Harris.
See also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LAqpfW-CWo
https://kidneytrails.com/bookstore/
https://pkdcure.org/community/phoenix/
On what date did you record this oral history?
2022-09-16T08:03