I also record if I've had a medical procedure, if there is an issue with my access and if I've experienced digestive issues. I also have to check my fistula...I place some fingers on my forearm and feel for the buzz. And the buzz is a good thing. It's my lifeline. If it's not buzzing then my access doesn't work and I'd need an immediate procedure...to either open it up, or to insert a catheter on my chest (boo). We also enter the lot number of the cartridge and the serial numbers of my machines. Yep. We do this every.single.time. And even when we travel.
I normally dialyze in the evening, but a friend is coming to town so I want to get it out of the way. And doing home hemo gives me this flexibility. Did I mention that I hate dialysis and wouldn't wish this on anyone? Eh. But sometimes no matter what you do, your kidneys still may not cooperate. My sister in laws kidneys have been fighting her for a while. But she's doing the right things. The blog has helped. Hopefully she and nephrologist can keep her off of dialysis.
We started prepping at 7:30 this morning. Brian started the treatment at 8:05. Oh yeah. I inserted the needles, then he administers an anticoagulant through the venous (blood in) line, the he administers Epogen...that's for anemia. Because the kidneys don't work, so making good blood doesn't happen. And then I'm hooked up to the machine. Take the blood pressure and we're off. The machine clanks every 30 minutes or so for a blood pressure reading. Anyway. So at 10:45 (it's 10:50 now) the machine alarm let us know that the requested amount of fluid has been removed. But I still have 45 minutes left.
But wait! You say I thought you were done. The amount of fluid is gone. Well yes it is. But we still need to remove toxins. You know kidneys remove toxins. Pat's kidneys don't work. Ah ha! The machine will wind down around 11:30. Then we have rinse back the remaining blood in the cartridge that was there when treatment ended. Yes, I want my blood back!! After I'm no longer hooked to the machine, but I still have needles in my arm, Brian flushes the needles ( which have tubing) with saline. He removes the needles. I apply pressure to the accesses for about 8 minutes. He then applies triple (?) power antibacterial to the accesses and bandages them. AND THEN we take the final stats. Blood pressure, temperature, Brian checks for the budding in my arm and then the end of treatment questions. Digestive problems? Bruising? Infiltration?( that's where the needle slips out of the vein and the blood goes into the tissue...that hurts...a lot).
And that's it. Should be all done around noon. And yes Brian has to clean the dialysis machine. So. To put this in perspective. Time wise, it's like a one way trip from Detroit to Las Vegas. Five days a week. So I can stay alive. So. Yeah. I really like this better than the 3 days a week incenter. It's much better on my heart and body in general. And I'm not wasted for the rest of the day. But I am looking forward to nocturnal treatment. Doing treatment at home in my own bed at night. And! Because I'll be doing treatment even longer at night, treatment goes down to 4 nights a week! Training starts next month..so more on that later.
Well that's it for today. The entire blog was dialysis, so there is no "on the dialysis front". Lol. My friends in the Mideast and east coast stay warm. I told Shawn it's getting cold here. She sneered at me! :-(
Lol.
My comfy chair. And yes Brian uses it also. And my dialysis set up.
While I wait for a kidney to love, I've got the artificial one above. :-)
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