SPECIAL HONORS: Physician Assistant
Deron Page (Photo by Jay Paul)
Dark sodas can make you itch. Watermelon and orange juice can cause your heart to stop beating. Too much water will spill into your lungs and you could stop breathing.
These are all things Deron Page knows well. And as a physician assistant in nephrology at VCU Health, he helps patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis learn these basic facts, too.
“Deron educates the patients so they understand the disease process and what the kidneys do for them,” says Marie Pagunsan, a registered nurse. “He takes a lot of time when he does that.”
Patients learn what their kidneys once did for them, and learn what they can’t do for them any more. Even with weekly visits for dialysis with Page and his team, they still have to adjust their daily habits. Without Page’s caring persistence, patients would lose their quality of life, Pagunsan says. She has been working at VCU for 14 years, four of which have been spent in nephrology with Page. He’s been taking care of people in the nephrology wing at VCU Health for 26 years.
“I can’t think of anything else I would want to do,” Page says.
Before joining VCU, he was a physician assistant in a prison after finishing school. He became burned out from shift work and wanted to work closer to Richmond, where he grew up. The physician assistant position in nephrology was new at VCU, and the hospital wanted someone who could consistently be on the floor with patients. Previously, fellows had circulated in and out of the nephrology wing.
“Continuity is important,” Page says.
Nephrology patients spend a lot of time on the wing undergoing dialysis. They come in for 12 hours a week, for years at a time. Nurturing a long-term relationship is good not only for the patient physically, but emotionally. Page ensures that his staff take ownership of this philosophy, too.
“There are a lot of different cultures here,” Pagunsan says. “[Page] stretches himself out to understand everyone and help each one of us understand how to get into the patient’s world. … He gives so much time to everyone. I don’t see a lot of people do that.”
When Page first started working at VCU, he saw 10 to 12 patients a day. Today, he sees more than 20. They are a fraction of the 660,000 Americans being treated for kidney failure, according to the National Kidney Foundation. By 2020, the percentage of adults over 30 with chronic kidney disease will increase from 13.2 percent to 14.4 percent and to 16.7 percent by 2030.
Page plans to stick around and brighten their days, he says. “I like to laugh and joke with the patients. If you’re feeling bad, you want some sunshine. ... Laughter is the best medicine.”
