2022-100-Faces-Book - Flipbook - Page 7
Slyms
Healer. Survivor. Artist.
Slyms’ kidneys were rapidly failing when she and her
six-year-old son moved to Nashville.
However, a requirement for at-home dialysis is—
a home.
She was recently divorced and couldn’t survive without
dialysis or a transplant. Treatment at Vanderbilt meant
the difference between life and death.
During her evaluation, a case worker at Vanderbilt
referred her to Catholic Charities and The Family
Collective, which helps those at-risk for homelessness
find and secure stable housing. Many families just
like Slyms’ don’t always have a large sum of money
such as first and last month’s rent saved in order
to sign a lease. The Family Collective worked with
city landlords to determine who accepted housing
vouchers and helped provide rent assistance while
Slyms transitioned to her own home.
For years, Slyms has been on hemodialysis, a process
in which a machine and artificial kidney clean her
blood and filter waste, requiring her to drive to a facility
25 minutes away, three days a week.
“I have to be there for four hours on a machine, which
takes about six and a half to seven hours of my day,”
she says.
Before her treatment, Slyms’ doctor created an access
point to her blood vessels through an entrance on her
left arm.
“It’s very painful at times and I don’t feel well. I get
these horrible headaches and my body just isn’t
doing well with it. After the dialysis, I’m kind of beat
and completely drained. I don’t have the energy for
anything else, and the next day I’m still recovering from
the treatment and it just starts all over again.”
She’s not able to work because dialysis and recovery
take up most of her time, which makes working and
providing for her son and two daughters impossible.
“It’s like a part-time job just to stay alive.”
Slyms went to the Vanderbilt Transplant Program for
an evaluation in hopes of getting a transplant. They
recommended she transfer to a different type of
dialysis, peritoneal dialysis, which can be done at home
while she sleeps. According to the National Kidney
Foundation, this type of dialysis allows you to control
extra fluid more easily, which may reduce stress on the
heart and blood vessels. She’ll be able to eat more, use
fewer medications and do more of her daily activities,
making it easier to work or travel.
“It’s definitely a juggle. Sometimes the balls fall down—
which they did, and that’s where [The Family Collective]
came in and helped me get the balls juggling again.
They have been very supportive in a time where I really
needed that support, you know. And it just reminded
me that there are really good people in this world that
really do care about people.”
For Slyms, securing her own home means more than
a roof over her head. It means not being hooked up
to machines in a facility three days a week. It means
regaining her health and being able to pick her son up
from school. It means getting back to the career that
she loves.
“Having my children and health issues and having dealt
with a recent divorce, it’s definitely taken a toll—but
it’s taught me some very valuable lessons that I would
not have learned otherwise. I feel like I have the tools I
need now to help others.”
Slyms is a healing artist by trade. She’s a certified
Reiki practitioner, medicinal aromatherapist and a
vocal artist.
“These things have definitely helped me on my journey
with my chronic health issues, so that’s what I hope
to get back to: helping people heal in a beautiful,
artistic way.”
The Family Collective
