The "I Have a Helicoptor", edition.

Good Monday morning!  The day after Easter. I'm seeing the White House Easter Egg Roll on the news. Many years ago, I think I was 7 or 8, my mom and I visited my godparents who lived in Washington DC during Easter. My mom and godmother took me and my godsister, Judy, to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll.  I recall it was raining, the egg roll was canceled and we got a tour of the White House instead. Judy also remembers that we were supposed to provide our own eggs!  I don't really remember the White House tour, but we got a souvenir book. Not a pamphlet, but a paper bound book with lots of pages, lots of photos and history of the White House. I wore that book out!! Mom was disappointed that the egg roll was canceled. I didn't know what the heck an egg roll was. Lol.  

Yesterday we prepared Easter dinner for Dad, Brian, Carle (with an e!) and myself. And the plan included taking food to Pauline and her niece since Pauline is pretty much confined to her bed. I finally scaled down the number of items.  But I'm still making way too much food. The only one I got right was the greens. So. My menu. Greens. Supposed to be vegetarian, but I use chicken broth. Sauté an onion and two cloves of garlic. Add greens. Sauté greens. Add chicken broth.  Cover. Chop up a few jarred jalapeño peppers. Add the peppers and some jalapeño pepper juice. Add salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about 2 hours. Reduce heat and let the flavors steep. It was on the stove about 3 hours. Sooo good. 

Brian made the cornbread. We're still trying to master the fried cornbread patties so we opted for Marie Callendar cornbread. We had corn. Frozen corn. Took it out of the freezer the night before. I cooked it like I cook fresh corn off the cob. It wasn't sweet corn. :-/  I added some sugar. Voila!  Sweet corn. Lol. I over cheesed the macaroni and cheese. But really. There is never too much cheese in macaroni and cheese. Lol. I asked Brian if he wanted some macaroni in his cheese.   We also had a relish tray with sweet gherkins, 2 types of olives and pickled peppers. And oh yeah. The smallest Honey Baked ham we could get. We chuckled when we picked up the ham. The store was filled with senior citizens buying hams. Grandma isn't cooking ham any more!  How am I defining old?  They all had white hair!  Lol lol. 

Anyway. After we ate, Brian packed up food for Pauline and her niece and packed up Carle's care package. And yes, we got him his half gallon of fancy Neapolitan ice cream...strawberries in the strawberry, vanilla beans in the vanilla and chocolate, well it's just chocolate!  And we took one of the Easter lilies to Pauline. We added number 6. Rofl. I kinda figured that.  We were glad to see her and she was glad to see us. And she was glad to see the food we brought. I'm so tickled my seniors like my cooking. I've learned a lot of mom's techniques..and secrets!  And we, yes Brian too, enjoy cooking. One day I'll tell you just how good his steaks are. Anyway. We had a great Easter.  Oh yeah. I received compliments on the place settings. They were paper plates and napkins from Party City. And Brian selected it. He was drawn to the square plates. Lol. 

Ok. You're wondering how I have a Helicoptor. I do. He's called Brian.  Lol. You've heard of Helicoptor parents?  I have a Helicoptor husband. He doesn't like to be too far from me. And I understand why. He's come home to me having passed out on the floor. Or even fainting in his arms ( at least I gave warning). And in my defense, if I feel bad, I don't attempt to go out at all. But he still keeps an eye on me. Heck, I've even caught Dad peeking into the room to make sure I'm ok. And I do the same to him and Brian.  Rofl. We're all checking in on and trying to take care of each other. All three us.  Lol. I digress.  We spend time together, but we do spend time apart. Like when I go to my sorority functions or my other organization. He goes to classes I have no interest in. Like woodworking, wheel throwing, or oil painting. And today he's starting cross fit. I'm actually curious about that. I'm thinking about yoga. And even if I'm not feeling well, he'll convince me to accompany him on errands just to get me out of the house. And I go.  Lol. I may be walking sideways and walking into walls. But I go. And I am glad to get out. So yeah. He's my Helicoptor. 

On the dialysis front. I think we've got the access issue under control. I was having trouble hitting it and thought there was a problem. However my nurse nailed it. Somehow I was getting off angle attempting the stick. So I just need to concentrate. I'll go into more detail later. 

Have a great Monday. Shawn will be arriving Thursday night so we're excited and planning for that. She's here for a conference but we get a few moments of her time. Lol. If our moms loved us like we love our kids, that is sure a whole lot of love!!  And then!  We're planning for Dads 90th birthday. He is absolutely stoked about that!  

My Helicoptor husband and my wonderful daughter. Photo taken inside of a pod at the High Roller in Las Vegas. You know, the giant Ferris wheel!  

The "Spring Break in Las Vegas", edition.

Good Wednesday morning!  It's spring break for the Clark County School District (CCSD). It's the fifth largest school district in the country. It has over 318,000 students and over 18,000 teachers and 1300+ administrators. But wait! There's more!  When I say Clark County, I mean the entirety of Clark County. Imagine our surprise when we saw CCSD school buses in Laughlin!  That's a 90 minute drive from Las Vegas.  We also saw the buses in Boulder City. Clark County is huge. CCSD includes Bunkerville, land o' the Bundys. That's still a little over an hour away from Las Vegas. Clark County is almost 7900 square miles. Anyway. Spring break. 318,000 public school kids and an unknown number of private/parochial/charter school kids all out of school this week.  

So with school out for the week, a lot of activities are planned. Probably most I don't know about because, you know, I don't have a school age kid. But there some things I do know.  Like the 2 giant water parks had their grand opening for the season this week. The parks will be open for the week. After spring break, the water parks will be open only for the weekends until school is out. But it's March!  And water parks are open!  And yeah..the temps did hit the high 80s. So. Yeah. And we were affected because our deep water fitness class is on spring break also to accomodate the kids for the week.  It's fine. Need to prepare for Easter anyway. 

Easter menu is pretty simple. Honeybaked ham, because I can't do ham better, macaroni and cheese, greens, sautéd corn....hoping to find fresh, but will use frozen, cornbread, relish tray...they like those weird olives, stuffed with blue cheese or jalapeños...and I'm getting cupcakes for desert.  Pauline is confined to her apartment, so we'll be bringing dinner to her. Her niece is staying with her for a while, so we're feeding her. And of course Dad will get Carl. Pauline's friend, Herbert, dropped us for another lady in the condo complex, but now he wants back in. I guess Dagmar didn't live up to expectations. And I know I cook way better than her!  Lol lol. But that's fine. Herbert was positive Dearborn is under sharia law. I don't usually try to defend Dearborn for anything, but I had to correct willful ignorance. I told him to quit watching Faux news. Lol lol. I digress. 

Dialysis has been mostly ok. I've had some hits and misses since the angioplasty that concern me. We're still pulling clots. They're smaller, but the procedure stops when clots appear. Such as when the heparin (blood clotting medicine..how ironic) is being administered via the syringe. The syringe can't be plunged because there is a clot somewhere. Heh. Couldn't even get the heparin in there to stop the clot. Or a clot forms during the run, the cycler will holler with a red 30 alarm. And the alarm is annoying!  Lol. That stops every thing. But no red 30 lately  though, when the syringe plunger is pulled back, we're getting air. That's not good.  The air in the lines may be due to a loose connection between the syringe and tubing, or Ive done a bad stick. Or a clot. Also since the angioplasty I'm having trouble finding the right area for the stick. I may need to create a new buttonhole...But we'll see. Anyway. 

Oh yeah. And the leak alarm went off. That was a new annoying sound. Apparently the cartridge had a leak. Yes the cycler complains about every little thing. And that's fine with me. Lol. It protects me!  And the cartridge?  Considering the number of treatments we've done, this is the first time we encountered this. I'd say QA for NxStage is pretty good for the most part. 

I did treatment Tuesday morning because we had cannulation issues Monday. After 3 tries of sticking, we called it a night. Tuesday went fine.  Except afterwards I was tired. Which explains my "I feel,bad about feeling bad" Facebook post. I'd planned to go out and run errands with Brian, but I was spent after getting dressed. It pissed me off. Lol. Brian and Dad assured me it was fine and not worry about it. I love them both beyond reason. Lol. And of course, I'm feeling great today!  

Finally, we took Dad to Zydecos for brunch on Sunday. He'd been haranguing us to take him. He wanted a catfish po'boy. He ordered it, I had the shrimp po'boy and Brian had the muffuletta. Dad devoured his po'boy. He loved it!  Lol. And my shrimp po'boy was so stuffed with shrimp, they tumbled out!!  Next week is Easter and the following week is Dad's birthday. He's looking forward to Fogo de Chao, his favorite restaurant...a Brazilian steak restaurant. He likes the Nonstop presentation of meat!  Lol. 

That's it for today!  It's still Kidney Month. Spread the word. If you or someone you know has diabetes or is hypertensive, they are at high risk for kidney failure. Make sure those kidney numbers are good. I'm pretty sure you don't want to join me in having adventures in dialysis. Heh heh. Have a great Wednesday!  

The "It's March Madness Time!", edition.

Good Friday morning!  It's March Madness time here in the Perry-Fields household!!  The wait is over!  No. It's not basketball. It's warm enough in the morning for Dad and Brian to hit the jacuzzi!  Lol.  Yeah. It's still too cold for me. It's currently 61 degrees and sun is just about to crest the mountain. Once the sun comes up, it will warm up. And the jacuzzi is heated.  It's still a bit chilly for me. But it's been warm in the afternoons here and not only have Dad and Brian hit the hot tub, we've seen other people heading out to the pool area. Heh. While at deep water fitness yesterday, there was a conversation with a lot of people who've left "snow", including the young lifeguard from Chicago. Lol.  No one was interested in returning. It was basically a "a laugh and point at you" party. (I still love you, but I'm not coming back during the winter!). 

Speaking of coming back.  We're tentatively planning a trip to Detroit this summer. The logistics are making my head spin. Dad wants to go to Yellow Springs, Ohio. I think we're having a family reunion. Brian and I plan on going also.  We decided that since we'd be in Ohio (even if it's southern Ohio, almost Kentucky), we'd drive to Detroit. Shawn found out. She wants to attend the family reunion and go to Detroit also. Ok. I've been thinking about how to do this. Oh yeah. Dad is just gonna fly to Columbus. He's not involved in our drama. Lol. Dad is from Yellow Springs and my brother lives there, along with a bunch of family. Yellow Springs, Ohio is one of my favorite places!!!

Shawn lives in Urbana, Illinois. It's about a 4 hour drive to Yellow Springs. But even if she drove there, what would she do with her car as we drove to Detroit?  So I thought Brian and I would fly to Indianapolis have her meet us there, drive to Yellow Springs and Detroit, then back to Indianapolis. Gah. That's a lot of driving. I finally  settled  on flying to Chicago, driving to Urbana to pick up Shawn (spending the night in Urbana), then heading on to Yellow Springs. Then go to Detroit for a few days. When we leave Detroit, we'd put Shawn on Amtrak and get her back home to Urbana. Whew!  Keep in mind, I still have arrange moving my portable kidney and have supplies shipped to Yellow Springs and Detroit. I'm sure you're also asking why we're not using Shawn's car. She has a nice little Ford Escort, which is fine, until I need to transport my private kidney machine. I need more car to transport us and our luggage. 

Just to let you know, when I fly with my private kidney machine, I try to avoid connecting flights. I don't want the airlines to "misplace" my kidney. Like our trip to Augusta. We're flying into Atlanta, then driving to Augusta. The bulk of the supplies will be shipped to the hotel in Augusta. More details to come.  And yes, I've already paid for the flight and reserved the hotel. I'll do the car rental later. 

Dialysis update. I told you I had to get my kidney machine replaced. And it was. Unfortuneatly the settings on the cycler were set to default. We didn't find out until we started treatment. Several settings were off. This resulted in a ridiculously long treatment. Treatment is a 2 step process. Removal of toxins and removal of fluid. It usually takes just under 3 hours for both. But since the settings were incomplete, the toxins removal took just over 3 hours with the timer indicating another 2 hours to remove the remains fluid. {Really Big Frowny Face}.  We ended treatment after the toxin removal. Brian called the nurse Thursday, got and entered to correct settings for me, my prescription. We ran the treatment last night. All was well!! 

Finally, I told you I was getting financial relief on one of my meds. I found out just how much. The price of this one drug is $622.00 for a 30 day supply. I was eligible for a program which brought the cost down to {drum roll}.... $10.00!!!!!!!!  I'm sending my social worker a big bouquet of flowers for that one!!

Well. That's it for today. Have a great weekend!    

The "I Accept ", edition.

Good Wednesday morning.  I guess we've adjusted to daylight savings time. We're waking up at the "same" time, although it's kinda dark. But the good part is watching the sun rise. Our apartment faces true east. Before the sun crests the mountain, a beautiful riot of pinks, oranges and blues glow over the valley. Heh. That reminded me the first time I actually saw a sunrise. It was after an overnighter at University of Michigan. I appreciated the beauty, but I was tired and appalled that I'd been up all night. I really didn't want to see anymore sunrises. Age and life changes all of that. :-)  the sun rise is beautiful. 

Yesterday I was listening to story about a proposed mass transportation project, a people mover from UNLV to Valley View Hospial and UMC hospital and to the new UNLV medical school. No, I didn't hear a reason for the destinations being hospitals. Then the announcer said it was in the planning stages...you know know, meeting with the public and figuring out funding (they expect half from the federal government). The expected date of operation is 2023. Seven years from now. That got me thinking.

Seven years from now I'll be age 66. Will be I alive then?  Being on dialysis keeps me alive. Sort of. The act of dialysis is hard on my organs. You already know that my heart is taking a beating. You know. From the low blood pressure episodes. I walk a fine line with calcium. Watching the potassium, otherwise I can have a fatal heart attack. And if I miss days of treatment, my lungs fill up with fluid...in addition to the build up of toxins in my body. So what is it that I accept?  That I will probably die sooner than later. Now I'm not trying to die, but once my kidneys failed, my life expectancy tanked. 

So while I accept my impending death, I've still made plans and goals. The primary goal is seeing Shawn graduate. She's about at the midway point. Another goal is the threefold celebration of my 60th birthday, Brian's 60th birthday and our wedding anniversary of 30 years. We plan on having a grand party, inviting our friends and family. It will be next year. We'll let you know when and hope you can attend. Yes, we will securing rooms for a reduced rate. I digress. I plan on remodeling our tiny kitchen. I watch what too much "Property Brothers". The renovations are great. (And great eye candy!  Lol). I also have some more traveling to do. I'd like to visit every state.  All that being said, I still accept that I will die sooner than later.  

Well what if I get a transplant?  It will probably prolong my life and will certainly improve my quality of life. But I'm not counting on it. If it happens, it happens. Eh. My dialysis machine keeps me alive and kills me at the same time. {That was a random thought!}. Anyway. I accept I will die sooner than later. And I'm not afraid of death. Some days I wish death would come. (Much to Brian's chagrin). Not often, so don't worry. But come on. How would you feel if you had to do a 3.5 hour treatment where you insert needles in your arm and sit while blood is moved in and out your body 5 days a week. I don't look forward to this and I know you wouldn't. It's freaking tiresome. Of  course there are days I don't want to do it. Unfortunately the consequences are death. Bah.   This isn't as depressing as it sounds. It just is. I'm not trying to die but if I die, I die. 

Now for better news. First I'm loving the deep water fitness. The instructor is a beast, but I'm enjoying it. Water resistance exercise wears you out. Oh yeah. A technician stopped by yesterday to update the software in my dialysis machine. My machine was his first failure of the day. Of course. Lol. A new machine will be delivered today. Fortunately I'd had 2 days of treatment, so skipping last night was a nonissue. Finally, the best news of the day, the week, even maybe the month.  I received a call from my social worker. She was able to get me financial assistance with one of my meds.  The one that cost $620.00 for 30 pills. Over $20 a pill. I'll call the people today to finalize the registration. Right now I'm loving my social worker a whole lot. She's working on the meds that cost $1800 for a month. 

So that's it for today. Got a few trips planned for the summer, including a road trip to California (looking at you, Shirley). The lease will be up on the car. We'll be looking at an SUV to cart around my dialysis machine..which I need to give a name..Kenny the kidney, maybe?  Lol. I need to think about it. Anyway. Have a wonderful day. I may not be afraid to die, but I'll tell ya, my little family loves me and I love them. Life is good!  

The "Seen and Done" in Las Vegas, edition.

Good Monday morning!  I'm finally doing more stuff, or getting back into the swing of things. I started feeling ill in August through non stop nausea in October. Then I was incredibly tired straight through the new year. But I was getting better. My healthcare team never let up. They were alarmed when I showed up for a monthly appointment and I was out of breath just walking from the car to the building.  And trust me, it was just a few feet. I ended up with oxygen.  Adjustments with meds and dry weight were made. And I still need to eat more protein..lol. I'd get tired at stores. Leaning heavily on shopping carts or even getting a scooter to just waiting in the car while Brian ran his errands.  

But now!  I'm getting out and moving. First of all I got treated to the incredible pollen out here. I've never had allergies and didn't experience it last year. But this year?  Whoo. Brian, Dad and I all were snortin', snottin', sneezin' and coughin'. Now we're just down to snortin'. The desert air dries your sinuses out...if you know what I mean. ;-)  A humidifier is in our future. 

So what have we seen out here?  More exotic cars up close than I've ever seen. Maseratis, Lamborghinis and Teslas are a common sight. As a matter of fact, we saw a parking lot in Primm that had about 30 stations for plugging up the electric cars. Saw a $100k Mercedes yesterday.  It's not unusual to see casino owned Bentleys and Rolls Royces tooling around town...not just back and forth to the airport. Yesterday we saw an black SUV with red rims and accents. It stopped our conversation.  Lol. We also saw a blinged out car...yes with crystals or rhinestones.  And the car itself was the business vehicle for blinged out car business!  Lol. Blinged out like the red taillights were red rhinestones.  And of course I've seen the requisite hydraulic car. The guy bounced when we were at the stop light. 

Yesterday after brunch at PF Changs...Dad likes PF Changs, Brian and I went to a local artist art fair at the Suncoast. It was in the grand ballroom and it was just big enough. We registered using tablets. Got tickets to an Easter Seals event next week. I tasted a sweet picked jalapeño. It was good. And tasty. And hot. I debated buying a jar as I thought about its uses while cooking, but I passed. I may get done another time. And anyway, the vendor is local.  We did get some peach jam. 

I purchased some jewelry and some habernero mustard. No it wasn't crazy hot. But the vendor had quite the impressive inventory of hot sauces.  Yes he had ghost pepper hot sauce.  And sauce that was even hotter than that. No we didn't taste it. My head was still hot from the pickled jalapeño!  Lol. Brian got some odorless Shea butter and a deerskin wallet. The vendor, Mystic Dragon, also had eelskin and other exotic hides for wallets, knife cases and cases for your taser(!). 

We had a great time and most importantly, I didn't get winded or tired or hurt while walking around. Even up to a few weeks ago I would not have entertained doing this because it would have worn me out and I'd hurt afterwards.  Now make no mistake, I rested when I got back home, but I got out there. And no, im not strong. Stop saying that. I'm trying to survive. 

Last week I alluded to issues with Pauline. She returned home from the rehab center, then they sent her back to the rehab center, then sent her back home with a nurse. She's in hospice st home. The breathing issue is not going to get better. But I think hospice is an inaccurate term. Dad and Brian went to see her yesterday. She had enough visitors to start a party!  And was having a good time. I'll get up there today. 

Finally, Dad's 90th birthday is April 9. I think he'd be tickled if he received some birthday cards. Give me a holler if you want the address. Have a great Monday!!

The "Ups and Downs", edition.

Good Friday morning!  March is National Kidney Minth and yesterday, March 10, was World Kidney Day.  "World Kidney Day is a global awareness campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of our kidneys.  World Kidney Day comes back every year. All across the globe many hundred events take place from public screenings in Argentina to Zumba marathons in Malaysia. We do it all to create awareness. Awareness about preventive behaviors, awareness about risk factors, and awareness about how to live with a kidney disease. We do this because we want kidney health for all."

I hope that this blog has raised your awareness of how special your kidneys are, how to check up on your kidneys and the dangers of kidney disease. I also hope that you share this information with your family and friends. You know that I don't want you to go through what I'm going through and I hope that you don't want your friends and family to experience kidney failure. Thank you for your love and support, but the big thanks comes when you spread the message!!!  

It's been a kinda busy week. I had my monthly checkup with my kidney team. We started back with deep water fitness. I had the angioplasty procedure. And we had some hiccups with Pauline.  At the monthly check up I meet with the dietitian, the social worker, the nurses and the nephrologist. We go over the results of my blood tests. Well. Since we were having problems with the fistula we did the blood draw several days late. I got the results the day after the checkup. Oops!!  Yes.  My labs are fine. 

For the last 2 weeks we had trouble starting the dialysis run. During the initial needle stick, or cannulation, we'd get clots, or the blood would run extremely slow through the tubing, or the blood would be full of bubbles. These are sign that my fistula had a blockage.  I finally got to the vascular surgery center on Wednesday morning. The  process begins the fistulagram, looking at the fistula to see where the problem is in the fistula( the vein).  And once it's noted where the blockage is, the angioplasty is performed...a ballon is inserted in the vein and expands the blocked area. The process takes less than 5 minutes!  

So here's the timeline. The appointment us at 8AM. We arrive at 7:50. And wait for them to open. Finally go in.  Sign 2 forms. They already have my insurance stuff from the previous 2 visits. 8:05 my nurse (my vascular surgery nurse) gets me and Brian. We go to her office and review meds, she makes sure Brian will drive me home, review the procedure, we talk about me being allergic to the the dye (that they insert in the vein to see the blockage). We then discuss which meds will be used for me to have conscious sedation...not to be confused with conscious uncoupling...I digress. I'm led to a changing room and disrobe just my top. Brian is sent back to the waiting room. 

I'm led to the prep area, vitals are taken and I'm wrapped in warm blankets. The surgeon comes over and he checks my arm and we discuss the procedure. The nurse leads me into the surgery room. I get on the table, get oxygen, and the node things on my chest and hooked up to a bp cuff. My left arm is stretched out.  Doc comes in, administers the meds and we're off. I'm high, feel no pain and talk and talk and ask questions. Anyway. Long story short. We were on our way home before 9:00. And this includes the recovery time!  Lol. And we did treatment last night flawlessly. Yay!!!

It was great getting back into the pool. I missed the water. That's it for today. I'll update you on the other stuff next week. Oh yeah. The title, "Ups and Downs". I was feeling pretty punky and low earlier in the week. Apparently going back to swimming and angioplasty improved my mood immensely. Who knew. And the weather also helps a lot. Have a great weekend. And don't forget to "Spring Ahead"!  

The "Just Another Day in Las Vegas", edition.

Good Friday morning. Still unseasonably warm. I like wearing sandals in February. :-)   Good thing I get those pedicures.  The nail salon we go to is owned by a Vietnamese couple. They're nice and more importantly, they are good. Anyway. This time I got purple toes!  Deep, shiny purple!  I like it!  

A few weeks ago Dad ended up taking Pauline, our 96 YO friend and neighbor, to the hospital because she was having trouble breathing. She returned yesterday with a flurry of activity.  She was transported back to the condo in an ambulance with a nurse escort. Dad was involved in some of whatever was going on. Later on Dad and Brian went to the hot tub because, well hot day and Thursday. No other reason necessary.  While they were out I get a call from the front gate to let me know Pauline's oxygen was on its way. My reaction was, Why are you telling meeeeee?  However the security guard was insistent. Ok ok.  I didn't know Pauline's apartment number. All I knew was she was on the 4th floor. I got my keys, ran out of the apartment, locked the door, got on the elevator, and started a brisk walk (for me) to the hot tub to get Dad. Ah. I didn't make it. I hear voices coming into the parking lot and of course it's the 2 guys with the oxygen equipment. 

I ask if they're here for Pauline. They are. I ask if they know the apartment number. They do. And I have a brain fart. The numbering scheme for the condo complex is a bit odd. We have 4 buildings, each numbered..1,2,3 and 4. Well. The apartment unit numbers start with the apartment number. The second number of the unit is the floor and the third number is the apartment number. So.  I live in unit 123. This means I'm in building 1 on the 2nd floor in apartment #3. So anyway. When the de.iver guy says she's in apartment 140 (fake number), I say she's not on the first floor!!  (Brain fart). The guy says the security guard says its on the 4th floor. My brain auto starts. Oh yeah.  Got it. We get to the apartment and a nurse lets us in. Pauline is surprised, but happy, to see me. I explain that Dad and Brian went hot tubbing and Dad will be there soon. 

Long story short, I learn all about the oxygen machine and what needs to be done. I admit I was looking longingly at her oxygen machine for those times when I need a little hit!  Anyway. Asked a few questions. Got hot and tired of standing and assumed Brian and Dad would be back. And concerned since in my haste I left all TVs on when I ran out of the apartment. I got on the elevator and wondered why it took so long to get to my floor. Oh. I pushed "P". I ended up in the parking level. And you know when the doors opened, Dad and Brian were standing there....surprised to see me!  Their expressions were priceless!!  Lol lol. I beckoned them in and explained what was going on. Dad went up after got dressed. And. Brian made homemade chicken noodle soup and Dad took Pauline a container.  I'll go into more(!) detail another time. But it was a good end to the day!  

Earlier in the day I had to do treatment because my venous line clotted Wednesday evening (dialysis angle). We tried again Thursday morning and it was fine. And I felt fine. We decided to take our chances with the offers from the casino. We get mailers every month. This month there is a scratch card for every Thursday and a bottle of Baileys for St Patrick's Day. We both ended up with $5.00 free slot play. And the Mexican restaurant has 2 for 1 meal deal, so we had lunch. I like this Mexican restaurant because they have a fabulous salsa bar. Yum yum yum. I took a fancy to the chipotle salsa, but there were about 10-12 more salsas. 

So yesterday was a good day. And it was just another day  in Las Vegas. :-)

The "Allergies or Colds", edition.

Good Wednesday morning. Well. The three of us are doing better today than we were yesterday. Monday evening Brian had a scratchy throat and Dad and I started coughing.   Brian and I opted out of treatment Monday....I'd had treatment on Saturday and Sunday so that was fine. You know I won't ever miss treatment and I won't ever go 2 days in a row without treatment. So. We were able to just rest...and cough...and sneeze..and blow our noses.  And sleep. Brian had the worst of it. Although we were all pretty much wiped out. No one left the house. And Brian slept most of the day. And bless his heart, he wanted to get something for dinner. Dad and I told him soup would be fine. No one had much of an appetite. So we were pretty much OK to do treatment. 

Treatment started out fine.  I cannulated, Brian administered the heparin and epogen. And we were off. We watched the election stuff, then settled in to The Voice.  I was drifting in and out. Then at some point I woke up, feeling slightly nauseous and sorta wanting to go the bathroom. Now doing treatment in the center, unplugging me to go to the bathroom was a non issue. The techs did their thing, I'd go, come back and they'd hook me back up. Of course this wasn't something that didn't happen often....we're encouraged to go to the bathroom before treatment. But we never covered it for home hemodialysis. And I don't see how I can disconnect and reconnect with out breaking sterile connections. I'll ask my nurse next visit.  

So anyway. Before I could tell Brian my problem, I started getting lightheaded. Dammit. I was crashing. My blood pressure dropped.  I got hot and kicked my blanket off. I also told Brian I needed saline.  Hits of saline, salt solution, raises the blood pressure. It's the combination of salt and fluid. Crashing and low blood pressure during treatment can be indicative of removing too much fluid. Brian gave me 300 ml before I settled down. Even still I had a difficult time getting a bp reading. I'd thought it was a problem on how we put the cuff on, but I learned from the nurses and it was demonstrated to me that when that happened, my blood pressure was low and the machine was having a difficult time reading. By time I got a number it was 64/44. :-/  Then. I had the audacity to crash a second time within the half hour!  WTF?  Brian gave me more saline, another 200 ml. I got better..felt better and we were good for the rest of the evening.  Twice during one treatment.  That never happened before. But Brian knew what to do.  Now. You may be asking why did I crash?  And how in the world did I crash twice?  I have an idea. And it's something I did to myself. Also since I had 500 ml of saline returned, I basically negated the fluid removal for this treatment. *sigh*. 

The amount of fluid I need to remove during treatment should be the amount I am over my dry weight. "Dry weight is your weight without the excess fluid that builds up between dialysis treatments. This weight is similar to what a person with normal kidney function would weigh after urinating."  So if my dry weight is 100 kg and prior to treatment I weigh in at 102.1 kg, then 2.1 kg of fluid needs to be removed during treatment. After treatment is finished, there is a process called rinseback. This is were the blood that is still in the tubing and additional saline is returned to me. In center, the rinseback was .5 kg. I think home hemo is .3kg. Anyway. I was trying to take the rinseback into consideration when calculating how much fluid to remove. Apparently my numbers were wrong or I just need to forget about taking the rinseback into consideration. Too much fluid taken off = crashing. I'd rather not. At any rate, I'm gonna hear from my nurse today who will read me the riot act. I brought it on myself. /shame

Anyway. Today is a new day. The coughing has eased up considerably for all 3 of us. Dad has already done his walking and Brian has way more energy. He's got his ceramics class today. I'll ask if he's going to go. That's it for today!  Have a great day. And oh! Its Kidney month. Have you had your kidneys checked within the last 12 months?  You should. If for some reason you end up on dialysis like me, I'll commiserate with you, but you really don't want to end up that way.