Friday and Saturday we went from one end of town to the other. But that's ok. Because..did I tell you we are currently house hunting? Anyway it was ok to drive across town. We were able to see many of the Las Vegas/Henderson neighborhoods. Where are we looking? What part of town? I actually don't have a preference..well there are some areas that are a definite no, but you know what I mean.
Saturday I had a 10:00 - 12:00 workshop with one group, The Society, Inc in the morning. Then from 1:00 - 6:30 I worked on the committee with the sorority for its annual Casino Day. I think it's more like a game day. :-) Anyway. Both places were on the far south side, an area that neither Brian nor I were familiar with. Well, let me state that Brian is the driver and I am the navigator. And we rarely use GPS. I look up the routes and map them out and commit them to memory. And I did it yesterday. Which was fine because sometimes GPS doesn't give you the most direct route. And with the 10:00 appointment we went to a gated community. GPS had us going through the the back entrance.
The 2nd location of the day wasn't too far away, but again, we just weren't familiar with that side of town. This time GPS got us there with no issues. Although it tried to give us some convoluted route for the way back home. We just ignored GPS and backtracked and made it home. Lol.
So the care partner thing. Brian drove all day Friday which included swimming at the furthest end of Henderson to delivering something to the way other side of town, and all day Saturday. But that's just part of it. For my early Saturday meeting, he dropped me off, ran errands then came back to pick me up. For the casino day, he actively assisted. He relished his role as a honey-do. What, you ask, is a honey-do? AKAs husbands/partners are called honey-dos. Honey do this, honey do that. And for the record, the kids are honey don'ts. Honey, don't do that. Lol. I was a Honey don't when I went with my mom to the AKA boule in Dallas in 1968. The term is not new! Lol.
The Casino Day started at 2:30 but the committee needed to be there at 1:00 to set up. I'd had treatment the night before and I was slowly recovering. But I was trying. The committee needed to set up tables and food. Brian was very much needed! And when someone needed him, he was there. We finally left just before 7:00 PM after cleaning up. People ate, played games and won prizes! Everyone had a great time. And I was tired. I was so tired my body ached. Every single bone and muscle in my body ached. Lol. I was tired like I hadn't been in a long time. As a matter of fact, I don't recall having such a long day in while, certainly not since we've move to Las Vegas. But. I did it. Somehow I made it. And Brian was there with me every step of the way. Keeping me going and driving us home! I got home and fell asleep. And slept longer than I had in a very long time! Feel good now, though! Lol.
So my care partner. Brian is my partner in this dialysis journey. Sometimes I'm not sure if I want to call it a dialysis journey when I think it's more accurate to call it a kidney failure journey. Whichever it is, I could not have done as well without him. I clearly could not have transitioned to home hemodialysis and nocturnal hemodialysis without him. And he's done this without question. And yes I know people who do this alone. I am in awe of them.
Prior to doing dialysis at home, all Brian did was drive me to and from the dialysis center. He did see how spent I was when I finished treatment. Dialysis patients look like they've lost a fight when they finish incente treatment. Anyway. Early on he got to witness me fainting from the dramatic blood pressure drop...also known as crashing. Ugh. When I found out about home hemodialysis I discussed it with Brian. We went to info sessions and he and I both then understood that it would be a 2 person operation. He was all in. He says if home hemodialysis would alleviate the crashing and would make me feel better...and would be a gentler and more effective dialysis treatment, he was in. That there should be no question that he would assist. We trained for 4 weeks.
My care partner, my husband, has learned how to use and master this "portable" dialysis machine. The set up up, the testing, administering meds as needed, and knowing how to address alarms and issues. He orders supplies, makes the calls when needed, practices the asceptic technique and records the information. What do I do? I take care of and clean my access sites and insert the needles. Brian draws the line at sticking me with needles. Because he doesn't want to hurt me. (It doesn't hurt, but I prefer to stick myself anyway).
Why use the term care partner instead of caregiver? Well first of all Brian doesn't like the term, but more importantly I am very much involved in my own care. Think of it as I make the plans and Brian executes the tasks. We are in this together. So I may complain some days that he hovers over me..and he does (helicopter husband). But he's seen some pretty scary stuff when it comes to my health. He was there when I couldn't breathe because of the pulmonary edema. He was there when I fainted in his arms at the dialysis Center. He was there when I acted stupid and passed out here at home. He was there when the endocrinologist inserted the needles in my neck to reduce the parathyroid. He is my partner in this and I can never express the amount of gratitude and love I have because of this. But I sure do appreciate and love him for this. He is making sure I am living life as best I can. And like yesterday, when I tried to do everything, he was right there helping me along. And I did do everything. It was hard and it hurt, but we made it.
Well that's it for today. I was so tired that I passed on treatment last night. But!! I'd done treatment the night before so it's ok. We figuring out what time to do it today. Flexibility yay! Have a great day!
Brian and I at Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Theta Theta Omega Casino Day.
Somehow we managed to wear pink and green(!). Well, I supposed to wear pink. :-D
Thanks to Soror Cherlyn for the photo.
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