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"!