iPod shuffled to The Originals, "Baby, I'm For Real" . I had something already typed and somehow I sent it to virtual neverland. As a former technology professional, I really knew I needed to hit "save". Especially since I have to do this one hand typing trick. :-( Anyway "Baby I'm For Real" was co-written by Marvin Gaye. Who knew? Certainly not me lol.
What do you take for granted? A shower. Yes, a shower. As long as I had the (life saving) catheter, I cold not take a shower. The catheter was so prone to infection that it had to remain dry at all costs. I can now disclose that before I knew that , when I came home from the hospital in November, I had a shower. Oops. Last night I had a 20 minute soap and water extravaganza!!!!! :-D
So after my date with karma, I settled into a dialysis routine. Watching, listening learning. I need to know what's going on and be my own health advocate. I had a few more low blood pressure incidents, but the remedy was to reintroduce fluid back into my system. The effect would be immediate. I have several techs who told me what to instruct as my maximum flow. I REALLY appreciate them. "The Delphonics", Trying to Make a Fool of Me". When I look up artists on iTunes, I tend to look for a specific song, then I find the entire catalog of songs I'd long forgotten. It's like Christmas. Yeah so, this song hit that category.
Knowing my maximum flow worked out because I started getting calls asking if I could come in earlier, I'd be able to inform techs. Could I come in earlier? Are you kidding me, hell yeah!!! After my first yes, I became a goto chair substitute. I liked the 10 o'clock time, but I like the 6AM slot even better. One January morning I ended up in module 6, an out of the way module in the maze of modules. The tech was Shirley. I mentioned I liked the early shift. She told me the chair I was in was empty and to let the charge nurse know I wanted it. Ok. I can do that.
Charge nurse is called over, and I make my request. She let me know there was a list of patients who wanted to change shifts and she would add me to the list. /sadface. Well I was ok with that. I was the new kid after all. Later that afternoon, I get a call from charge nurse. She informs me that I can have the time slot. :-) I can only hope that my pleasant demeanor worked in my favor. At any rate I don't know why, but I've really been all smiles since. I'm the one that walks in at 6AM smiling and greeting everyone. Lol. My husband calls me Norm. :-)
One more tidbit. I explained how towards the end of a session, my blood clotted, which upsets the machine (ya think?). That got tackled on two fronts. First, the vascular surgeon has me on a blood thinner - that was to ensure the blood would not clot my immature fistula. Second, during the dialysis, we all get doses of heparin, a (surprise) blood thinner or anti coagulant. I ran into that in ICU and the hospital. After I came out my fog, I realized the nurses were injecting something into my stomach (!!). Don't cringe. It didn't hurt --- really. I asked what it was. Since I was immobile in the bed, it helped prevent the dreaded blood clot. (I'd had a close relative die from a traveling blood clot). They got no argument from me.
I'm feeling "So Fresh, So Clean". Uh oh. I said I tell about the open house. Heeeee. I promise I'll do it Friday. Signing off with , "Tilt Ya Head Back", Nelly and Christina Aguillera. Don't laugh, it works. It samples Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly". With Nelly's singsong style and Christina's powerful force, it's really good. And it makes you want to dance. /chair dance. :-)
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