Dr. Muhammad Arif Anwar

Kidneys usually go bad because of sugar. Dr. Muhammad Arif Anwar probably sees that all day. He has a CCD from BIRDEM along with his MBBS and MD in nephrology. That means he knows exactly how diabetes ruins the filters. He sits in his room looking at creatinine levels. Just numbers on a printed lab report. High numbers are bad. People come in with swollen ankles. Water retention. He presses his thumb into their shin. The dent stays there for a few seconds. Edema. He just writes down some water pills. Tells them to drink less water. Which sounds weird to most people. But that is how it works.

He is an assistant professor. So he walks the dialysis ward with the medical students. The room is always cold. Smells like bleach and heparin. Lots of machines humming. Pumping dark red blood through clear plastic tubes. Patients just lie there for four hours. Looking at the ceiling or sleeping. He checks the machine settings. Adjusts the pump speed maybe. He tells the students to feel the fistula on a patient's arm. That bumpy vein where the thick needles go. It makes a vibrating feeling. A thrill. He probably asks the students a question about potassium. They guess. He corrects them. He writes a few notes on the chart hanging at the end of the bed. Puts his pen away. Walks to the next machine.