A few tales from the other side at the request of a friend. The other side of what? Incenter treatment. Most of the people I met were pleasant. I got welcomed warmly by many patients when I first started treatment, well when I transferred to first shift. The the third shift folks weren't so friendly. And considering my state of mind, I really didn't care. I was more lucid by the time I switched shifts a few months later. I also got the chance to meet and talk and with people on the rare occasion I had to wait to be picked up. And then again, there were others I just avoided.
You get rather close to most of your fellow warriors because we're all experiencing the same thing and we're together 3 days a week for 4-5 hours. One of my favorite moments was when I walked in one morning. I was one of the last people to come in on first shift. People were already hooked up having their treatment. So I walk in and pass a bunch of people and we greet each other...like walking into Cheers. I ask one guy how was his weekend and he tells me he had diarrhea over the weekend. With a smile. :-/ Um. I'm delighted that you feel that comfortable with me to tell me that, but it really was TMI. The staff that heard rolled their eyes. Lol. All I could do was to ask if he was doing better today. He was.
You get concerned when patients disappear for a while. At best it means a hospital visit. Well, one of the older ladies that took me under her wing was missing for a while. I later found out she had a heart attack. After she did some drugs. Alrighty then. I found out that drugs were shared among the patients. And I'm not talking about our prescription drugs. :-/ again. It wasn't unusual for patients to come in obviously under the influence. And they weren't shy about letting folks know they used. Some people weren't seated next to each other because of the "transactions". And sadly at least 2 of the people died before I left Detroit.
There was my partner, my chair neighbor, that would curse out a tech at any minor issue. But he taught me a lot. There was the lady somewhere that screamed every time the needles were inserted. There was the sweetest tech, who could never place the gauze over the hole where the needle was removed, so I bled like a slaughtered pig every time. I hated to see her come to take me off the machine. :-( There was the time the guy got bedbugs and seeing how it was handled. There was the time a staff member hid under a counter because she had a stalker patient. Or the time someone stole all of the tv remote controls. :-/ That being said, this was my standard for a center and it really wasn't all that bad. Especially when I compare it with Las Vegas. It wasn't bad at all.
When I arrived in Vegas, I immediately requested home hemodialysis training. I had to wait 5 months. I didn't have the characters in Vegas that I had in Detroit. Or not as many. Lots of people who spoke only Spanish. The old lady from the nursing home who yelled for almost the entirety of treatment. Her nursing home would "forget" to give her the sedative so all 40 of us were subjected to her yelling at the top of her lungs. That started a patient revolt. Lol. Finally the staff turnover in Las Vegas was freaking incredible. I'm there 5 months and we lost the only dietician, 1 of 2 social workers, 2 RNs, and 4 techs! Well damn. They also lost me! Yay!! Lol.
Well that's it for today. All dialysis all the time. There are many things I saw and heard that I am uncomfortable about writing about. We experience a lot of indignities because of ESRD....like the time I pooped on myself when I passed out. :-( I was embarrassed to say this, but it happened. Part of the disease. Eh. Welcome to chronic illness.
On a lighter note. I'll be attempting creamy tomato soup in a bread bowl today. And we registered for the caucus process. I'll write more on that later. We're gonna stay warm today. Have a wonderful day!!!
Sunrise Mountains. Snow capped this morning!
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