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Monday, April 29, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "We're Gonna Plant Some Fresh Herbs This Spring" edition

iPod shuffled to "Harvest for the World", Isley Brothers. Brian and I compare song lists and note songs we hear on Sirius. I have no Tavares or Queen. How did this happen? I have Johnny Giitar Watson, but no Joe Tex! I'm slacking!!!!! This will be fixed.

Ok. I'm at my permanent module. Now that I'm no longer in a private room, but out in a six chair area, I can see what goes on. Let's start from when I arrive at the center. The waiting room can get pretty crowded. There are people waiting to be called in for dialysis. There are people who have finished their sessions waiting to get picked up. People drive themselves. Some people come via transportation services. Some people have professional drivers. Some have family or friends bring them. The guy next to me walks ( he lives in the apartment bldg across the street). Stevie Wonder, "Another Star", from "Songs in the Key of Life". This is the set that came with a 45. Am I right? He was so prolific and good.

All these people in the waiting room...some in wheelchairs, some with walkers with wheels. Some with canes. Some people are pleasant. Some are cranky. Some are old. Some are not so old. How's this. One of my moms friends is here, a member of the sorority. Heh. I have her and the lead social worker as my sorors. Alpha Kappa Alpha represent!! Lol. I've gone off track.

So coming in, we let the people at the desk know we're here. They notify the module. And then we sit and .......wait. Eventually someone comes and gets you. First stop, the scale to get the dry weight. What, you ask, is dry weight? The most basic explanation is your weight without fluid. Here's the deal. Since my kidneys don't work well, I can't get rid of wastes and fluid real easily, hence the dialysis process. During dialysis a set amount of fluid is removed from my body. I can't tell you the amount in liters, but I know that if lose more than 2.5kgs (5.8 pounds) per session, fluid MUST be returned to my body. More than that magic number, my blood pressure drops dramatically. "Grapevyne", Brownstone. Again. I haven't tired of this song. These ladies voices are so strong and the arrangement is just perfect. My record low was 64/40. I asked how was that possible? I must admit, the RNs hustle to get me back to life with no panic. <3

The tech lets me know which chair is mine, I get my stuff out..iPod, ipad, earphones, blanket, and Jolly Ranchers. The tech attaches the arm pressure cuff to me. The cuff is attached to the dialysis machine....pressure for me is taken automatically every 1/2 hour. They take pressure standing, then sitting. The tech hands me a face mask and puts one on and the sterile gloves. The tech attaches tubes to my collarbone appendages. Blood out, blood in. The tech then changes the dressing on my collarbone appendage. It's basically making sure the area remains clean and sterile. Face mask on the entire time. Yes I bitched about it initially, but it's non-negotiable. Sometimes you just need to bitch. Lol.

We're basically done. The tech puts in how much fluid to take off, she hit a switch on the chair and I go into recline position. I put in my earbuds, have the TV set to my channel of choice (closed captioning comes in handy), and settle in for my 3 hours of dialysis. This is now my life.
Understand that 3 weeks ago I had a completely different life. There was no time to adjust. I had no choice if I was to live.

Signing off with "I Just Want to Celebrate", Rare Earth. Motown. :-)



Friday, April 26, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "School's Out for Summer" edition

I bet you thought the iPod shuffled to Alice Cooper. Nah. It shuffled to "I Cant Help It", Michael Jackson. :) Shawn's semester officially ends at 11:59 tonight (her words). I'm not sure if she even knows "School's Out" and if she doesn't I'll admit that I've been neglectful in some of her music training. ;-)

Yesterday I finally completed the stress tests that went horribly wrong last week. Check this out..Harper Grace has a program called "Friends and Family". My vascular surgeon gave me the form and said if I fill it out, I'll get free valet parking. I completed the form, sent it in, DMC sent me some key fobs. Next time I needed to go to Sinai-Grace, we got free valet parking.

Well, this time, the day before the procedure I get a call from the Friends and Family office. They tell me that when I get to Harper, go to the information desk, tell them I'm with F&F, and I'll get an escort directly to Cardiology. I will bypass registration, because they have already done it for me(!). Well that's exactly what happened. The escort took us up there and Cardiology was waiting for me and the tests started immediately!!! What a difference from last week.

The echocardiogram was first, then I directly to Nuclear Medicine. That sounds scary, doesn't it. The nuclear part was an isotope injected into blood so my heart "glows", when they take pictures..a series of photos of my heart at rest, then a series of photos of my heart at an increased heart rate..for me, it was calculated to 139 bpm. "Can This Be Real", The Natural Four. Lol. That's a dark basement, slow dance song.

So the catch is, the heart rate was increased via drugs. Here I dressed to do the treadmill thing, but no, they laid me on a gurney and injected doputamine slowly. That stuff worked. I'm laying there feeling my heart go thump thump thump thump....and got tired. Lol. WTF. "You're The Only One", Eric Benet. Ok. I may be in the minority. Granted Eric Benet and Hallie Berry may have been a bad match, but I think Hallie has...issues? Don't get me wrong, I think she's gorgeous and talented, but well...anyway...I've wandered off track.

The cardiologist came in during the stress test to check out the EKG, because, you know, I had 567 nodes attached to me...we maybe not that many. Lol. Anyway, he's pleased with the readings and then decides one (1) is off. He calls the cardiology tech, the administering RN, and the other RN and gave an impromptu demonstration on placement of ALL the nodes. Again, having no modesty works well for me. Rofl. That being said, my heart is fine. I am quite healthy, except for the kidney thing. Heh. A few more tests and I am on the kidney transplant list. Hoping to be there before June. :-)

Signing off with "Fell For You", The Dramatics. I actively went to this. It's Cliff's fault. All I need is someone to whisper Dramatics and I'm there.."I can't help myself, girl, you thrill me so.." Omg. Swoon. Lol. That's a line that should have been used on me back in the day instead of the incredibly lame ones. Lol. Have a wonderful weekend. :-).

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "I Know My Kid is an Adult, But She Will Always Be My Baby!" edition

iPod shuffled to "Rolling Down a Mountainside", The Main Ingredient. "Whether you're saints or sinners, smile and share". Nice strings. My cousin and I both took violin lessons. I punked out after 2 years. I hated carrying the big ole violin to school 2-3 times a week. She kept it for much longer. I think she even played the harp. Yeah, she's got talent. :) BTW, I'm doing the one finger typing trick and will be doing it forever. I have to keep the arm with the needle(s) in in it outstretched and still. The fistula is getting a workout. Working up to the 2nd needle. It's been going good for the most part. Monday, the needle was pressing against a nerve. Ouch. It had to come out with 45 minutes to go. No biggie. In addition, the "stick " team has been very cool doing my sticks. :) Still, I'll be glad when my tech gets back. Her entire module misses her.

Ok. What is a module (in the context of my dialysis center)? "Come and Talk to Me", Jodeci. Still love them, but I always flash to the video of Ludicris when he was watching a video of KC and Jojo pass out drunk on stage. :( Ok. The modules are rectangular shaped areas. Each mod has 6 dialysis chairs and 6 dialysis machines. There are 3 walls, with a fourth boundary open. A work station the size of a formal dining room table against the 4th (imaginary boundary). The work station has drawers and cabinets on both sides. The top has several storage organizers with assorted supplies and boxes of gloves. The side has a sink. There are also 2 recovery chairs. When people finish dialyzing, they can get moved to one of those chairs in order to get the dialysis chair ready for the next patient. Finally, my center has 7 modules. Max patients per shift is 42. Number of shifts..3. My center looks like a maze. The one in Vegas was a big open room.

So for reference, my 1st two days at dialysis, I was in module 1. I thought that was my home. Day 3 I went to module 2. An entire new staff and now I am with other patients. And it's a longer walk. ; ( Yes I had my walker, but gah, didn't they how that just wore me out? "Baby Got Back", Sir Mixalot. "Red beans and rice didn't miss her". Heeeee. Lol. Yes, I like "My Hooptie" also. See, I hadn't been up close and now I was seeing what happens at dialysis. Seeing people with fistulas, cranky people, passive people, sad people. I pretty much knew where I'd fit in. If you know me, you know also.

Signing off with "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love), The Delphonics. The beginning strings are so distinctive. I can name that tune in 2 notes. Lol. Seriously though, they are a great group from the 60s-70s.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the " I Like Getting Lost in a Bookstore"edition.

iPod shuffled to "I Only Meant to Wet My Feet", The Whispers. My family always make cracks about the short twins. No matter, they still can make a room of women swoon. :-)

Ok. I've survived the first day at my permanent dialysis center. At home I was struggling to be independent. I'm making progress. We're planning menus. Remember I have to limit sodium, potassium and phosphorous. This is limiting tomatoes - fresh, canned, juices, sauces, puréed, etc. Also limits potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, milk, ice cream, beans, cantaloupe, peanut butter, bacon, CHOCOLATE (sigh). "Regulate", Warren G, who is Dr Dre's stepbrother. It seemed like everything I liked was taken away from me. :( I was, however, encouraged to eat a lot of protein - lean beef, fish, poultry. Apparently my favorite veggies are high on the potassium side. The surprise was carbs were highly encouraged, multi-grains were to be limited (which was fine...I don't like twigs and leaves in my bread and dislike whole wheat pasta and brown rice bleah bleah bleah ).

Lol. If having kidneys that didn't work, having to go to dialysis 3 days a week for 3 hours a pop, screwing with my days didn't depress me, the food restrictions surely tried. There was a silver lining. I am not diabetic. That is huge in this realm. Imagine the additional restrictions. There is a large percentage of dialysis patients with diabetes. As a matter of fact, each step of the way, the health professionals seemed surprised that I was not diabetic. "I Want You", Common. Like his music. He's also nice eye candy. (I am not a dirty old woman!!! ;-) ).

I had another pressing problem. None of my clothes fit. At least before I ended up at the hospital, I had ordered a fall jacket. I was gong to need a winter coat. Aha. I had something to do to pass the time. Internet shopping!!! Heh. Between surfing shopping sites, recipe sites, kidney information sites, Verizon told me I used up my data allowance(!). Well I certainly was keeping busy. Lol.

I'd plan menus, Brian and Shawn would shop and cook. We surprisingly adjusted to no / low salt very quickly. Today a lot of foods are unbearably salty, BUT food does need to be seasoned. My coup was making greens in a very healthy way. Thank you Sunny Anderson. :)

Ok. I wasn't planning on writing about the renal diet today, but it just kinda flowed out. Over time I've had some restrictions sort of lifted. Such as my potassium level was low, so I can do the potassium rich foods with great moderation (I'm still leery of spinach and a baked potato). If I leach the potatoes, the potassium decreases. What is leaching? Eh. I tell you another time or you an look it up. I'm tired of typing. Signing off with "Door to Your Heart", The Dramatics. You know I crank the volume up on some songs. This is one of those songs.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

A Saturday Interlude



This is my husband of 25 years. I admit that it doesn't seem like 25 years. We seem to just enjoy life, enjoy each other, and have fun. That's not to say life have has been ice cream and roses. Some of you may remember some of the issues we faced fairly early on. We marched through those times together and supported each other and moved on.

During this kidney failure journey, Brian has so been there. Lol. Sometimes I have to give him a break from taking care of me!! I think that's good, though. It's made my recovery faster and better. He's worried about me and I worry about him. :)

I love my husband. And just to embarrass him, I think he's "hawt"!!!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the " Just Once, Can We Do This Without Complications? Please?" edition.

Really. Just one time. That would please me so much. iPod shuffled to "Ain't That a Bitch", Johnny Guitar Watson. Matches my mood. Lol. First time I heard Johnny was on WGPR. I was hooked. ;-) Ok. What happened?

Yesterday I was scheduled for some tests for the transplant. BTW, I got official notice from the transplant office that I was a good candidate for transplant, I just need to get some tests. Yesterday was a stress test and echo- cardiogram. The transplant office said I could get the tests done at a closer hospital, so that's what I did. We got there for registration and that went fine. The orders and information were in the system. We got the papers and label and went to the cardiology floor. This is where things fell apart.

My appointment was for 9AM. Not only was no one in the office, the sign in sheet was from the previous day. We waited about 10 minutes. I found someone in nearby office who was less than helpful. People would see us, but would not acknowledge us. ;-< Finally , 1/2 hour later Brian found someone ( better him than me at this point, I had steam coming out of my ears). They looked at the paperwork and say, oh we have no record of you coming today. "Daydreamin'", Aretha Franklin. Great arrangement. Check out the guitar.

So anyway, they deign to add me to their schedule, albeit reluctantly. They walk me up to another floor and I get prepped for the test. I get something via IV to make my heart glow ( in the dark? ) lol. I have to wait a 1/2 hour for it be ready. The tech gets me after a 1/2 hour. Takes the baseline heart rate pictures and sends me to the next part. A drug is to get injected into me to increase my heart rate. And here I thought I'd be on a treadmill. Anyway, before they start they realize I am a dialysis patient. WTF??. The RN announces I need a blood test. Really?? In the middle of all this and NOW you are realizing this is needed?

The nurse suggests having my most recent tests from the dialysis center faxed over. Bless my dialysis center, they did just that in quite a timely matter. Unfortunately the tests weren't recent enough for the hospital. The blood work was going to have to happen. I stopped the procedure.
I'd been there 3 hours.

When I got home I call the transplant coordinator and told her what happened. She was quite apologetic. She called me back after investigating what happened.. The test was I supposed to have isn't done by the hospital, so they were going to give me another one. :-( Yeah well ...I am rescheduled for the correct tests at the original hospital next week. I'm counting on this time gong flawlessly.....please?

Signing off with Rahsaan Patterson. "Feels Good". "Like making love on Egyptian cotton". How's that for a lyric? :-)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "Family and Friends" edition.

Well, we're trying the fistula again. I've turned a little bitchy as to who I want to "stick" me. My tech is out sick (/cry). My back up sticker isn't in today, and the assigned tech is the new lady !
O.o. Yeah that's not happening. The charge nurse did the stick. Yay Margaret!!

So now that my left arm is immobile, I'm doing the right hand one finger typing trick. iPod shuffled to "Be My Girl", The Dramatics. I can listen to Ron Banks all day. /swoon.


 

Family and friends. I mentioned how four old friends from Pastuer Elementary school reconnected. We've know each other almost 50 years. Those friendships were the building blocks for all us to develop new friendships during our lifetime. In other words, we learned how to make friends. The amazing thing about when we got together is, and understand that some of us hadn't seen each other since 6th, 7th grade, we were so open and loving. Open arms and open hearts. Amazing.

The ability to make lifelong friends has served us well. I ran through a list of friends I've made in my lifetime. My friends from church. My friends from Shay Lake. My crew from high school. The people I know from college (all of them - lol). My sorority (AKA), The people I've met at work. People I've met through Brian. People I've met at Shawn's schools. My World of Warcraft crew. These people are blessings and I let them know. :). iPod is giving me a Dramatics-fest. :-D. "Toast to the Fool". I imagine that the other four ladies have developed other wonderful friendships over the years. These are the lessons we learned from each other.

The other group is family. As best as I can remember, my cousin Karen was my very first friend. We have pictures of us together as babies. Our mothers were close and we were together often. I always enjoyed being with her. We'd plot and play. We teased her little brother and were delighted when she got a baby sister. Her mom let us suggest a name for the baby, which was summarily discarded. Lol. If I mention "Teary Deary", we'll both roll our eyes and chuckle. Little brother will laugh.

My Perry family is loving and supportive and too many to mention. A family reunion is a thing of beauty. And diversity - lol. You walk into the room and feel the unconditional love, even if your tag says "David's Granddaughter". Lol lol. And I'm finding more and more Uddybacks. We all just look alike, but when we connected, it was with open arms. :)

It's such a blessing to have friends and family and I feel so blessed and grateful. Thank you all. Each and everyone of my friends is so special and mean the world to me. You are loved and appreciated.

Signing off with "For the Love of You", The Isley Brothers. Omg. If that was coming out of the dorm room, you kept on going. Please don't knock. ;-) Just close your eyes and enjoy Ron Isley. :)

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "If You're Old Enough to Have a Lifeand to have a Job, You Use Facebook Exactly as Advertised. to Find OldFriends", edition.

Changed the format on ya. So yeah. After a while I realized that there is a title header and I really ought to use it. Would make sorting the posts a bit more efficient. Will probably redo previous posts next weekend. And the quote in the title is attributed to Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the science of virtual reality. Yes, I had to look him up. Ok ok. iPod shuffled to "This is for the Lover in You", Shalimar. Loved the song then it got played.to.death. :( Even now,I cringe a little. Way to overexposed a nice song by the Soul Train group. Hehehe

Ok. Old friends. Really old friends. Well not old as in geriatric, but old as in I've known them for most of my life. Since elementary school. Five of us met up this weekend for lunch. Here's how it happened. Terry and I went out to breakfast about a month ago. Terry and I have been in touch for about 15 years maybe? We worked in the same building when we reconnected. My mom and her mom were still nominally in touch. Terry and I escalated our communication thanks to Facebook. She made a point of coming by the house and was able to visit my mom the last summer Mom was in town. When Mom died, Dad wanted Terry's mom to perform the funeral service (Terry's mom is a retired Episcopal reverend , one of the 1st females). Terry got us together and it worked out. In addition, Terry was there for the family during this time. I've known her and we family since we were about seven.

I'm not sure when we hooked up with Marilyn, but she lived in the next block up from Terry. I remember us getting chased from school by Richard Rogers and Frederick Smith. (Lol. Don't even ask me how I remembered the names ). I also remember going to Marilyn's house for lunch and her mom introducing me to Spaghettios (yumyumyumyum). Yeah. The yums were for 10 year old Pat. Pat of 2013 is not going yumyumyumyum. Our moms also did the Girls Scout Leader thing. Now we didn't hook directly via Facebook, because she's not on Facebook. Yes, these people exist!!! Really!!! I know others. They will not be swayed!!! No hating. ;-)

This is getting long. I'm sorry, but it has to be done. (Phineas and Ferb have somehow influenced how i communicate and don't worry if you don't who they are. I may explain one day). Valerie lived directly across the street from Marilyn. She was the smallest and quietest and the one least prone to start mischief. Every crew needs one like that. Her mom was really nice too. She was the GirlsCout cookie lady. Now that's a hell of a task. I remember going into the basement. I never knew that many Girl Scout cookies could exist. Lol. Val and I reconnected via Facebook through Janet, who we went to high school with. Lots o' tentacles here. Val is going to be catalyst to make sure that 40 years don't pass before we get together again. <3 data-blogger-escaped-.="" data-blogger-escaped-br="">
Finally Roz. Her family loved about 2 blocks west of me. When her family moved to the neighborhood, Roz had the bonus of knowing me coming in, a ready made friend, if you will. How did we know each other you ask? Roz and ALL of her brothers and sister had my mother as their Kindergarten teacher. :-D. "Looking Through the Windows", The Jackson 5. Lol. I wore this song out. I even had the record and a record player at camp. I have no idea how I had a record player at camp. And the album actually belong to Marnell. Lol. It's wild when memories come flooding back. Roz found me in Facebook via Val.

So back to me and Terry at breakfast. We're reminiscing about the old neighborhood and I told her i was in touch with Val and Roz. We agreed to try to hook up. I contacted Val ( all done via Facebook ). Val gave us the added bonus of Roz and Marilyn. Woot!! We used features in Facebook I didn't know existed, but the meeting came to fruition this past Saturday. We stayed at the restaurant 3 hours and a wonderful time. Many thanks to 1917 Bistro for allowing us to take up the table that long and the waitress who took pictures with everyone camera and phone.

Val and Roz got their photos on Facebook. Me? I'm fighting Google+. Lol. I know I can post them here. So I will. I'm pretty sure I know how to move the photos, but I need to get n the computer. Just something the ipad is not meant to do, short of purchasing an app. : /

I have so much more to add, but this post already too long. Maybe I'll add more on Wednesday. Signing off with , "I Wanna Thank You", Frankie Beverly and Maze. Yes yes ok had my Frankie Beverly and Maze period. Then I started to wonder why Frankie never took off his hat. Lol

Friday, April 12, 2013

The "I Saw an Ark Float By a a few Minutes Ago and It's Still Raining", edition.

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "I Saw an Ark Float By a Few Minutes Ago and It's Still Raining", edition. iPod shuffled to "I'm So Proud", The Main Ingredient (before Cuba Gooding). The song is a remake of another R&B group of the era. Any guesses?

So I'm at my first day at dialysis and my tech is "Madison". I'm in the private room, thinking I'm there in isolation to protect everyone else from whatever microbes I'm bringing in. Paranoia much? Lol. Madison hooks me up to the machine. Remember my access is attached near my collarbone. After I'm hooked up, she cleans the access site. An entire kit is dedicated to the collarbone access site. Oh yeah..during the access prep, we both are wearing face masks. The chance of infection is crazy high. I also watch the techs go through an insane amount of (I'm sure they are not latex) gloves. Antibacterial foam containers are everywhere and are used constantly and each module (ha I need to explain that) has a sink which is used a lot.

Naturally after I'm hooked up I have to go to the bathroom. :-/ I get unhooked .........I return and get rehooked up. I apologize profusely for causing problems. Madison assures its ok. I feel,like a trouble maker. "Too Close", Next. I like this song. ,the voices, the beat, makes you want to dance, BUT, my kid says its a nasty song. It is suggestive. Lol. Probably inappropriate lyrics for the kids when it came out. The catch is, the kids catching onto the lyrics and intent before the adults..Sigh..

I settle into three hours of dialysis. The tech sets the TV for me. The social worker comes in and gives me some materials, the the dietician comes in and gives me a list of foods I can eat. I don't see my favorite foods on the the list. Wtf..lol. Biggest surprise on the list of what I can have? Rice Krispie Treats. Woot!!!!!! Biggest loss were the potassium rich foods. ( Since working with the dietician foods,life is really just fine yay!). I get cold, a green duffle bag with the name of the dialysis center on it with a fleece blanket inside magically appears!! Madison hits a button on my chair and the seat and back heat up!! I snuggle in the warmth.

The nurse comes in and gives me a few shots, one was a start of a series of hepatitis vaccines. They ask if I've had flu and pneumonia vaccines. I receive a shot for a blood thinner and a shot for vitamin D. Wow. The good news is that the injections are done thru the access tubing. Except for the hepatitis vaccine. Ouch. "It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate", The Persuaders. Words to live by. Heh heh heh. "It's 5 o clock in the morning and I don't give it a 2nd thought". "The sweetest woman in the world can be the meanest woman in the world if you make her that way". I digress.

Three hours later, 6:30PM, I finally finish. I am beat. The tech unhooks me. Me and my walker hobble to the scale to get weighed again. I go out the door and the most beautiful face in the world is waiting for me. Yes, of course, it was Brian <3 

iPod tried to sign me off with "Rubber Band Man", The Spinners, but The Spinners and Philipe
Wynn are not on my list of favorites, so I reject it. I like the earlier Spinners. There we go "Come and Talk to Me", Jodeci. My nieces and I would debate who was better, Jodeci or Boys to Men. I preferred the rawer sound of Jodeci. Too bad they did the self destruct thing.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The "Going to Costco is Always Such a Bad Idea", edition.

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, "The Going to Costco is Always Such Bad Idea" edition. iPod shuffled to "Morris Brown (Featuring Scar and Sleepy Brown)", Outkast. This song is all kinds of good, as is the video. The Morris Brown College marching band is featured, I love Scar's voice. Janelle Monae is in the video. And finally it's Outlast, 'nuff said. We went to Costco to scout out what I'll need to get for the graduation open house. I'm satisfied that the bulk of what I need is there. Unfortunately, we just couldn't walk out there without buying something. Brian got a scale and I got an immersion blender .

"Request Line", Dynamic Three. "DJ, please, pick up your phone, I'm on the request line". Old school rap / hip hop. :) So I'm home from the hospital. I survive my first weekend. I'm alone for a while as Shawn and Brian have to go to work. Around noon I drag myself to the kitchen to try and make a sandwich. I have to use the walker and realize that the act of getting there, and then trying to navigate the kitchen and actually making a sandwich required more energy than I had ( huge sad face). I grab some carrots and stagger back to the bedroom and wait for my family to get home.

Monday we get ready for my first trip to dialysis. Brian and Shawn have to get their schedules adjusted to match mine. I'm feeling pretty bad about that :( They assure me it's no big deal. Brian and I leave to get to the 2:00 appointment. He drops me and the walker off at the door. I say I can make it. He parks the car and will meet me at the center. I walk into the building, ask the security guard where the dialysis center is, because it is not readily apparent. It's in the basement, make 2 lefts. Sigh..that's a long distance for me at this point. I mentally thank Chuck for forcing me to walk as much as he did. I wait forever for one of two elevators and eventually stagger into the center, tired as hell. (Ok it's not really that far, but at the time it felt like 25 miles).

I let the lady at the desk know I'm here and sit down. Brian comes in and sits with me. Because this is my first time, we have to do the insurance dance. After about 15 minutes, all,I want to do is lay down. I'm irritable and thirsty and wonder what's taking so long. Some nurse wanders over to me and proceeds to lecture me on whatever it was I did to get have my kidneys fail. Had I felt better I'd have told her to f-off. ;-( A social worker spotted me looking miserable and came to talk with me. She'd eventually be MY social worker. I eventually get called back to the dialysis area. It's bright with people in chairs hooked up to machines. See, in the hospital, people were in beds, I didn't expect the chairs. "Sexy Mama", The Moments. Whoa, I didn't know The Moments morphed into Ray, Goodman and Brown. I was verifying the date of the song and that tidbit was there. It came out in when I was I high school and it was pretty racy then.

I get weighed. I still didn't understand the significance of that. Then I get led to one of two private rooms. I ask the tech her name. I swore she said Madison. A few weeks later I would find out I was so very wrong lol lol lol. Anyway that's enough for today. Signing out with, "The Love We Had (Stays on my Mind )", The Dells. Fabulous voices and even better harmonies..great arrangement. Classic.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "I watched the NCAA Final Four, cheering for the Maize and Blue while wearing orange and blue and didn't feel bad at all edition". iPod shuffled to "Float On", by Detroit's own Floaters. "My name is Larry.."

Guess what? I ordered the graduation announcements. I ordered the graduation photos. And we spent the weekend in Champaign, Illinois to look at apartments. Hooray for getting things done! Brian and Shawn picked me up after dialysis on Friday and off we went. We stopped for a late breakfast west of Ann Arbor. I felt weak after eating, so I spent the next several hours laying down / sleeping in the backseat of the SUV. Lol. 56 years old and I'm sleeping in the back seat of the car on a road trip. :-D We make it through Gary and Chicago and head south. We chuckle when we realize Illinois is more than Chicago. Illinois is massive farmland. It puts Ohio to shame with the sheer size of the farms we passed. Big corporate farms o' soybeans.

We arrive in Champaign around 4PM. The trip wasn't that long. The hotel is on the north side of town with a slew of other hotels and a massive shopping area, including a mall with Macys(!), Sears and Penneys. "Love Under New Management", Mikki Howard. She has a great voice and a nice run in the early 90s. Her voice and songs stand the test of time. We get settled in, get dinner. Shawn verifies the appointments and we get ready for the next day.

We start the day with hotels version on breakfast. Shawn calls it barely adequate. It's good for a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. We pull out the smart phones and ipad for GPS duty and off we go. The first order of business is to get University of Illinois gear. Brian wants U-Ill dad stuff. I go for a hoodie. Shawn humors us. Lol.

We looked at five apartments in the morning. We looked at an additional four in the afternoon. None had elevators. Mom got a (much needed) workout. Oh yeah, the weather was spring perfect, getting into the low 70s. "Blues Away", The Jackson's. You know I like the Jackson's. don't judge. ;) Shawn decided on one we saw in the afternoon. It's walking distance to campus and close to a bus stop. Champaign has a very nice public transportation system. The campus is beautiful.. The area has a UM vibe but more laid back. Shawn is excited and we are excited for her. :)

Signing off with "That's the Way of the World", Earth, Wind and Fire. One of the discussions on the road trip was music and memories. I can probably attach a memory to every song. This song rolls me to my freshman year at University of Michigan. <3 data-blogger-escaped-.="" data-blogger-escaped-br="">

Friday, April 5, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "Lions and Tigers and Wolverines, Oh My!", edition. Jason Hanson :( , where's a closer? , and Final Four in ATL. iPod shuffled to "Butterflies", Michael Jackson. I really like this song. I wish there were a video to go with it. The record company didn't want to do one :( Such a pretty song. Floetry wrote it and covers it also.

So the Friday I'm released from the hospital, Shawn picks me up. Brian has to work, but she has no classes scheduled and is off of work. Somehow I get up the 3 steps from the side door into the house and stagger to the bedroom. I am using the 1st floor bedroom. Stairs are much too daunting. I hadn't used the stairs for about a week prior to going to the hospital. The exception was the basement because I needed to do the scenario quest in Pandaria for the weapons. I made a commitment to Whitemara and Sirshiry. (Yes, only a very few will even know what the heck I'm even talking about here). Geez. The blood pressure cuff just choked the life out of my arm ;-( I digress.

I thought I felt better and I did, but damn, I was still very ill. "There Goes My Baby", Usher. This is one of those songs that I instantly liked. I was still very weak. Shawn commented that I looked frail. Roflmao. I have never been or looked frail my entire life. Heh. I had to do something about that. Frail, indeed ;-<

Well first things first. I just needed to be able to get around the house. I was still using the walker. I could make it to the bathroom without it, but any further, the walker was necessary. Brian made a pathway for me. I'd use what little energy I has to go to the front to eat...if I had the energy. I couldn't even stand too long without getting ridiculously tired.

My challenges at this point are what I can eat, something to pass the time besides TV , moving and getting to go dialysis. I needed some clothes. And a coat. Sigh. I need to be able to feed myself and take of myself while Shawn and Brian are at work and school. And now I am getting hungry. :-D Signing off with "A Real Mother For Ya", Johnny Guitar Watson. Funk baseline. You can see my pattern. A true child of the 70's. FUNK. Eric B made me a CD with Johnny Guitar Watson songs and said , "You know his songs all sound alike". I was forced to,agree, even if it broke my heart. Lol. Thanks Eric. ;-)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "I Can't Stress Enough How Much Support my Family and Friends Have Given Me Through This and I Want Them to Know How Grateful I Am" edition. Just so you know, Brian moved up his retirement to help out with me. When I came home from the hospital, I was still quite weak and needed to get to dialysis 3x a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and my time was at 2:15PM. Not convenient for anyone. :( Anyway that is yet another story for another day. iPod shuffled to "It Was A Good Day", Ice Cube. Lol. Took me a while to figure out what song he sampled. Do you know?

During the time my kidneys were failing (and I was unaware), I lost weight. In addition, the arthritis in the knees and back were in full force, prompting me to get steroid shots. Of course in retrospect, the kidney failure was causing the problems. :(

So anyway, I was a public safety information technology manager for the City of Detroit. I worked with the technology for the Detroit Police Department, the Detroit Fire Department, Detroit EMS , and dabbled with Homeland Security.(Lots of really cool technology). I had a lot of meetings. A lot. At some point the chairs in the conference rooms seemed to get lower. I had a few meetings where I had to ask Commanders and Deputy Chiefs (DC) to help me up out of the chair. Eh, I really had no shame. I had arthritis. The gentlemen of DPD were always happy assist me. :) Well one day about a year ago, I had a meeting and I needed help up. DC and Commander helped me up. The literally lifted me up off my feet. Lol. Well my slacks tried to fall off (now that kinda embarrassed me). At that point Commander says, "Ms Fields, you've lost weight". Lol. No kidding. My project manager and business analyst chuckled. I said my goodbyes and walked out holding my pants and wondered how I hadn't realized just now big my clothes had gotten on me. That Saturday, my family went to Parisian to get some new clothes. I had dropped 3 sizes.

Now I realized my appetite had diminished. I would get hungry, but if I waited it out, the hunger would go away. "Hey, I've mastered weight loss". Yah right. "Luck be a Lady", Frank Sinatra. His version is so much better than Marlon Brando's movie version. Rofl. Who decided Marlon Brando should sing? Lol. Also, this version played at the Fremont Experience in Downtown Vegas. The horns kick. Oh yes, the EMS chief and assistant chiefs also heaved me out of chairs on occasion. They all know I love 'em all.

I also want to stress that since November, I've needed the services of EMS three times. Each time EMS has responded quickly. The initial call was when the fluid accumulated in my lungs and I really was dying(!). The guys got to the house. Came to the bedroom, gave me oxygen, took my vitals, wrapped me in a blanket and put me on a chair stretcher thing. Hoisted me into the truck and rushed me to Sinai-Grace. The 2nd time was at the dialysis center. I passed out while leaving the center. My blood pressure had dropped and they couldn't bring it back up (this was a function of dialysis which I'll discuss later). Again, EMS arrived in quite a timely matter and delivered me to Sinai-Grace. "Flashlight", Parliament. The epitome of funk. Baseline. You just have to play the air bass. The 3rd time was yet another blood pressure drop that occurred about 45 minutes after dialysis(!) while we were in a restaurant. How fortuitous was it that a Detroit Fire Department captain was there? Now I didn't just fall writhing on the flor, I just laid down on the bench, I needed to get my head down. The DPD captain noticed and came to check on me, and called EMS. EMS got there in a timely manner again. The good news Is my blood pressure normalized by the time they got there, so no transport for me. I have sent my thanks to EMS Chief 1 and EMS Chief 2 ( yes that's what I called them and they knew it - lol ). Heh. I need to let the dispatchers know I appreciate them them also. I know what it's like in there.

That's enough for today. Signing off with "I Can't Help It", Michael Jackson. That is just a wonderful song, written by Stevie Wonder. Close your eyes and smile. :)


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Kidney



Yes, it's an off day. I was having a pity party yesterday when the "stick" didn't take. Anyway before I sat down, I took a photo of my kidney (see above). My arm is sore, but hopefully it'll take tomorrow. Think of it like this. The initial fistula is quite narrow, like a toothpick. It needs to get as wide as a straw for optimum flow. The more we do it' the stronger it'll get.

We just need to get over the hump. I got thangs' to do!!!!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis

Pat's Adventures in Dialysis, the "I Have 1 Team Left in My Bracket and it Ain't UM", edition. iPod shuffled to "Spotlight", Jennifer Hudson. I heard Ne-yo say, as a producer, Jennifer's voice is too big to put into box. I agree, she has a great big voice. Love it.

I was all excited because we are working on my new access point, the fistula, in my left arm. When this is working completely, the catheter in my collarbone can be removed. I've been on this fistula journey since December. "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time", The Delphonics. Philly. The initial fistula surgery was a few days before my birthday. Nothing special. In and out of the hospital same day. Go see the doctor a week later. He checks the fistula on his ultra sound machine. You also feel it. Feels like a hive of bees inside your forearm. Well apparently my fistula stopped working. It clotted up. "What does that mean?". It means I have to have surrey again tomorrow. ;-( Doc gives me megadose of a blood thinner and I'm off to out patient surgery again.

2nd times the charm. Now the fistula has to mature. But wait, what exactly is this fistula you speak of?

A fistula is created by surgegy, connecting an artery and a vein. It is also called arteriovenous fistula or an AV fistula for short. Dialysis Fistulas are constructed to join a vein to an artery. The procedure can make the vein become “stronger and larger”, which can make repeated needle insertions for dialysis treatment much easier. Normally, patients will receive needle sticks three times per week.

I get thru January just fine in early February, the doctor discovers the vein access is too deep. That's how I ended in the hospital again. That's when I got the nerve block in the arm, which took about 14 hours for me to feel my arm again. ;-[ . "Grapevine", Brownstone. I know it's a repeat song, but (1) I have no control over shuffle. Even if I have over 400 songs. Go figure. (2) I really, really like this song. :)

Before my arm returned to me, I developed a hematoma in the surgical site. What's a hematoma you say? A hematoma or haematoma, is a localized collection of blood outside the blood vessels, usually in liquid form within the tissue. About 11pm the nurse comes to take vitals and I'm swimming in a pool of blood. I was quite unaware because, well, I couldn't feel anything, duh. She announces a code something or another and about a dozen people rush into the room. Honestly, I'm more concerned that I can't feel my arm. Lol. One of the people who comes is my very own doctor. I chuckle and ask had he been at the hospital all day. It was after 11pm and my surgery was 10am. He said yeah, he had surgeries scheduled all day. He had just finished for the day and just came running on the code whatever. He got a nurse and resident to help patch me up. About 2-3 hours later my arm returned. (Gah this longer than I thought...sorry)

The surgery fixed the vein, but now I have an oozing hematoma I get to take to Las Vegas..yay? This also delays using the fistula because I have to wait for hemotoma to go away. Sigh. It's always something, isn't it. What are you gonna do, but just deal with it? "Open Sesame (Part 2)", Kool and the Gang. I'm not familiar with Part 1? Lol. "Get on your camel and ride". "Allakhazam".

So here we are today. The fistula is stronger. The hemotoma is 99% gone. On Friday I got my 1st stick. All was well. Today? The fistula didn't want to cooperate. Oh well, lets try again Wednesday. I really want this catheter gone before Shawn's graduation in May. Forget that, I just want this catheter gone. Period.

Signing off with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Tears for Fears. An angsty song sounds about right, right now. :- )