Yesterday, Thursday, was a pretty good day. Wednesday night treatment was ok. My blood pressure dropped near the end of treatment and I needed to take my time standing up. Admit it..most of us just jump on up from sitting, but when we do that, beware, your (yes yours) blood pressure drops when you stand up. So my BP was already low, around 94/78 and I'd stand up and get woozy. Anyway. I went to bed..when I woke up on Thursday morning, I was a little better and I really need to take my BP several times a day now. As much I'd like to think I'm invincible, I'm not. I did go out later in the day.
After dinner, we prepare for and start treatment. As usual, it's a non-event. About 3/4 of the way through, my BP starts dropping to stupid numbers. During the run it was actually pretty good, averaging 116/78 to 86/66. Yes those are reasonable numbers for me. I told you since starting home hemo, my hypertension is pretty much nonexistent. Well. The BP started dropping. I'm not happy when it hits under 75. And it went there. I started getting the telltale symptoms. Lightheaded, anxious, hot, cold clammy and finally straight out panic and basic irrationality. By the time this happened treatment was about 1 minute from being complete. Completion is 2 steps. Step 1 is flushing of toxins is complete and step 2 is all fluid is removed.
I told Brian my pressure was dropping. He gave me 100 ml of saline, which is what he's supposed to do. It wasn't enough and I wanted to lay prone. I was crazy, irrational and panicked. I attempted to clamp my blood lines and lay down in the bed. I remember clamping. Then I remember Brian calling my name. I had passed out on the floor. Not only has I passed out, I was in some odd position. My feet were tucked under my body. And the needles were pulling out which caused a bit of a bloody mess. Let's just say, once I came to, I was still light headed and now I was also nauseous. And I could not get up. Eventually Brian called 911. I couldn't seem to recover.
Response was less than 5 minutes. I counted 6(!) responders. I think the fire guys were here first. They took my vitals, got me up and put me on a gurney. A second group, the EMTs took over. A third group were there, I guess, because they responded also? In the ambulance I was given an IV and oxygen. I was feeling little better.
I was taken to the closest hospital, which is little more than a mile from where we live. By the time I got there, I was feeling better. Tired, but better. I was sort of surprised, but not much, that my nurse had never heard of home hemodialysis. "You stick yourself?!!" But the ER doctor was aware of it. So apparently a dialysis patient showing up after passing out was not a rare occurrence. Lol. After some tests they let me go home. After I paid my co-pay. Glad I got that insurance thing taken care of. The verification letter came on Thursday. How fortuitous.
We came home, I took a shower because I was covered COVERED In blood. Brian cleaned up the blood on the floor and we went to sleep. Dad was up when we got home. The very last thing I want to do is upset Dad. Or Brian. I was an idiot. What lesson was learned? Allow Brian to give more saline if/when needed. And quit panicking. Now I'm not sure how to control that, but I do know the nurses would get real stern with me when I got low BP idiocy. I suggested Brian do the same. I won't hold it against him. I promise. And finally, keep my ass in the chair no matter what. But I gotta tell you. I hate that feeling when my BP drops. I feel like the life is draining out of me. Like I'm dying. I probably am. 60/40. And dropping ugh. Oh yeah. I'm sure you're asking why my pressure dropped. It means we're taking to much fluid off. Apparently removing 1.5 kilograms is too much now. Imagine that. I couldn't tolerate more than the removal of 3 kilograms when I was in enter. Now it's less than 1.5.
Well. Not doing deep water fitness today. Going to rest. Going to take my lumps from my home hemo nurses. And I was feeling aces yesterday. Plans were coming together and issues had been resolved. It's always something, isn't it. Anyway. Have great weekend. May the snow just stop in the Midwest. It's late April for goodness sake. Have a great weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment