The "November Is The Start of My Holidays", edition.

iPod shuffled to. "Get on Up", The Esquires, 1967.  And I still know all the words. :-D. "We gonna do shingaling". That dates it, doesn't it.  Who knows how to do the shingaling?  November starting the holidays?  Well it goes like this.  Election Day was a day off.  Moms birthday is November 11. Then my wedding anniversary is November 21 (poking Brian). Thanksgiving follows that. My kid's birthday is December 12. Mine is December 17. Parents anniversary is December 24.  Then Christmas and finally New Years.  One long season of celebration. If I include the birthdays of my nieces and nephews, it runs from late October through early January. Lol. My mother-in-law seemed to have little parties every weekend. :)

I will also to list the anniversary of me quitting smoking and starting dialysis.  Now why would I celebrate being on dialysis?  Because on November 1, 2012, I felt horrible and didn't know why.  On November 2, 2012, I felt even worse.  I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. My husband had to call 911 to have me taken to the hospital. A simple blood test indicated that my kidneys had completely and utterly failed.  My body was filled with toxins and poison it could not get rid of. They toxins and fluid had finally reached my lungs. Pulmonary edema. I was drowning. 

I needed and received immediate dialysis.  I didn't know jack about any of that. I don't recall having a catheter inserted into my groin. Heh, I do recall the Foley catheter.  I tried to get to the bathroom to avoid it, but I could not move. Lol. No one wants a Foley catheter.  So I had the Foley inserted to catch and measure my urine output.  The emergency dialysis catheter was inserted on the right side of my groin.  I had an IV on one arm and was hooked up to a machine taking my blood pressure on the other arm.   I wasn't going anywhere on my own.  I was in the ICU for 3 days. 

But you know what?  After the first dialysis, that emergency treatment I have no memory of, I felt much better. After I woke up from the first death dream, I felt better.  I may have been weak, but I wasn't curled up in a fetal ball, moaning. I could have a conversation with people around me. I could joke and laugh. And now I knew why had been feeling so awful for so long. The things that made me feel bad all went away after that first dialysis treatment. 

I remember how bad I felt for so long.  I remember how much better I felt after dialysis. So yep, I celebrate being on dialysis. And of course the iPod shuffled to Rare Earth, "I Just to Celebrate". <eye roll> .  "I can't be bothered with sorrow.  I can't be bothered with hate". "I just want to celebrate another day of living, I just want to celebrate another day of life".  :-D

I know people who detest dialysis and are very unhappy with the situation.  I agree that it is life changing but it is life giving and life maintaining.  I'll take it.  I would have died before my mom. I would have missed Shawn's journey to Grad School and her graduation. I wouldn't have been able to go to Disney World. I'm enjoying and relishing life. Seeing the beauty everywhere. Appreciating my friends and family.  

So I'm sitting in this chair.  Getting cold, but I'm wearing a hat, and have my nice fleece throw over me.  The seat is heated. <3  My machine is beeping about something..my tech comes and adjusts the needles or tape, pushes buttons on the machine.  The machine takes my blood pressure every 15 minutes for 3 1/2 hours. I may experience cramps or low blood pressure after treatment. But I am not complaining. I am alive.  So November 2 is a day of celebration for me.  I got my life back!

Have a beautiful day. Will you join me in a toast to my celebration?   Signing off with "Amel Larrieux".  " You got your eyes on the prize".