The "There Seem To Be A Lot Of Rabbits In Northwest Detroit ThisSummer", edition.

iPod shuffled to "Blues Away", The Jackson's. My tech isn't here this morning. I hope she's ok. Here's the deal. The dialysis  center has a substantial staff and apparently a lot of titles.  I've mentioned the social worker tech title.  We've got several layers of registered nurses, a hierarchy, it seems. Some nurses have more responsibility than others.  This is the group that rotates the charge nurse duties.

There are several layers of dialysis tech.  The top layer is the stick team. They wear red lanyards. The next layer is regular techs and the tech assistants.  The stick team are the experts in needle placement.   My regular tech is the stick team leader :-)  That's a blessing and a curse lol. She can stick me blind folded, but I'm leary of anyone lose sticking me.  When she was out sick, I would only let stick team members even come near me lol.  Monday, a nurse I like was setting me up and was going to stick me.  My tech  was nearby, so I let the nurse try. She is not a member of the stick team and surprisingly quite a few of the nurses are not proficient stickers (!). Anyway the nurse was unable to get the venous needle placed correctly (my venous placement is tricky). My tech came over and nailed the stick. Lol.  The final layer is dialysis tech assistants. They don't stick or set up patients, but set up and clean machines, chairs and stations. 

So any my tech isn't here, but a red lanyard tech, who has stuck me before, is here, so I'm good. :-). "You're On My Mind", Kem.  I was not a Kem fan until this song. Shawn says its because there are no vocal gymnastics. :-D.  Once a new tech was setting me up.  Lol. I told her she couldn't stick me and please get a stick team member. Lol. She was cool about it and got a stick team member for me. Oh, and my techies the stick team leader and the is the most requested sticker.  Some people are scared, upset, or just difficult placements, but se can get the job done. 

As far as sticking, consider this. Sometime the accesses can clot, sometime they may just stop working.  This is our lifeline. When this happens, the patients have to go directly to the hospital..do not pass go do not collect $200. :-(   The access has to fixed immediately in order to continue dialysis. Or else you get to get a new chest catheter inserted (big ass sad face).  Bah, Spinners, "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl ". Changing that.  Lol by the time I finish typing the title, the song will be over. "Since I Lost My Baby", The Temptations. Better. :-). Temptations -1. Spinners - 0. 

Did you see the photo of me in the dialysis chair?  I'll post it again. Did you notice the needles in my left arm?  It's running blood back and forth to my mechanical kidney.  That left arm had to be reasonably still.  I don't want to dislodge the needles. We rest the arm on a pillow. At the very least that will set off the alarms on my kidney, but it's just plain a bad thing. So I type with one hand. Works pretty well on the iPad. Lol.  Did you notice the blood pressure cuff on my right arm?  Takes the BP every half hour. If the BP is too high or low the alarm goes off.  The iPod is on my lap.  Oh yeah, at the centers I've visited, they don't give you an arm pillow. We're spoiled here. :-)

I have a blanket, it gets cold after a while.  The chair also heats up, which is nice.  I'm wearing my headphones for the TV. There is also a Baggie with my candy, Napoleons.  Also in the Baggie is my tourniquet and my little iPod. We're offered as many pillows as we like, but I don't like them. 

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask. :-).  Oh yeah, it was difficult to get a photo of me in the chair . HIPPA issues, but it's a photo of me, authorized by me, on my phone. Lol. Whatever.

Signing off with "With Open Arms", Rachelle Farrell. Now those are some vocal gymnastics I can appreciate.  Have a great weekend... I'm walking at Belle Isle tomorrow. :-)