Pat's Adventures in Dialysis: The "Just a Day..and a Procedure", edition

Good Tuesday morning! I slept well last night. And most of yesterday afternoon. Let's start at the beginning, Monday morning. We started the day at Heritage Park Aquatic Center. We're on the northwest side of Henderson. The pool is damn near in the mountains on the southeast end of Henderson. Literally cross town. As a matter of fact I can see the roads dead end into the mountains or the desert near the pool! Lake Mead is basically just over the southern mountains. I digress.

We get to the pool, change clothes and head in to the pool area. Yeah, the lifeguards know our names now. They're mostly kids and are amused at the antics of "seniors" at deep water fitness. Brian and I are at side of the pool with the more "vocal" swimmers. Heh heh heh. Again. I digress.

The class before us is finishing up. And the members of our class are straggling in. Oh yeah. Our instructor is a tiny little thing. With the voice of a drill Sargeant. I can hear her while I'm in the dressing room! Once class starts we move nonstop for the next hour. Legs, arms, core, balance, stretching, resistance, range of motion, cardio are just a few things we work on. We use barbells, noodles, fins, parachutes, kick boards, and tethers. Not on the same day!!! It is work. We bitch and moan. An yet we still show up! Lol. When we finish and get to the locker room, there is a lot of sighing and deep breathing. We just finished moving for an hour...non-stop. We complain and then show up for the next class. Lol. And yeah..it's worth it.

Our next stop was breakfast. Metro Diner. It's pretty good and there are some good breakfast choices. And they have the best hazelnut coffee! Portions can be large...that seems to be a "thing" in Las Vegas...ridiculous portions. Time for me and Brian to share meals. I digress.

We head home and rest from the workout because I have medical procedure at 1:00. A dialysis related procedure. I read my instructions at the diner. No food 3 hours prior to the procedures. Whew. We finished breakfast just after 10. We chill and entertain Glen until it was time to go. The Vasvular center is clear across town in Las Vegas. We try to plan the route and time because there is a massive construction project on the busiest freeways in Nevada. So then the streets get congested. Anyway. We timed it ok and arrived before 1:00. I got called in the back just before 2:00. It was busy. Oops, lots of people needed procedures.

Let me backtrack. We are at a vascular access center. This center services dialysis patients. Our access are our lifelines. Literally. If the access clots, closes or blow, or any of a number things, we would be unable to do dialysis. And so then we'd die. So what usually happens is your access may clot or close up over the weekend. Or even overnight. I call my nurse who calls the access center to schedule the appointment. On this Monday there was a steady stream of patients. For my case, it wasn't a dire emergency. My nurse gave me a work around , but the issue still needed to be addressed.

So finally I'm called back. Brian comes with me. I chuckle at the size of my file. I think this is my fourth time there. The nurse assures me my file is small! Lol. We go over my meds. I remind her that I allergic to the dye...that's injected into my access to see where the blockage is. It's in my record and the solution of using benedryl is there. So the first time I had the procedure, I had an immediate bad reaction to the dye in the middle of the procedure...the team of course, was professional and addressed it immediately and moved on.

I'm prepped on a table. I'm hooked up to the automatic blood pressure machine. Some nodes are placed on my back and chest. I get the oxygen tube. My left arm is stretched out palm up on an extension of the table. It's get washed with blue stuff. A glove is put on the hand. A paper barrier is put up between my head and arm so I can't see what's going on. Boo. On my left side are 2 monitors. So I can see as the doc is looking for blockages and I can see when the balloon is inserted for the angioplasty. Doc gives me fentynal (?), benedryl, and inserts the dye. I actually taste the meds as they are administered and then get high. It's conscious sedation. I'm aware of what's going on and what's being said and the team is talking to me..but I feel...loopy. The procedure is fine, although I can feel when the balloon is expanded. Lot. Of. Pressure. I squealed. Doc apologizes. Lol. Mission accomplished.

After the procedure I go back to a recovery room. My stars are good. Doc explains what the problem was and what got fixed. I get apple juice and animal crackers. Put my shirt back on. No pressure on my left arm. Can't even use it it stand up. Done by 3:00. We leave. Brian picks up some chicken. I slept on the way home. Because drugs. We get home, I stagger into the bedroom and fall asleep. I thought I'd watch the news but it was after 6:30 when I woke up! At a little. Went back to sleep. Because drugs. Woke up just before 11:00. Geez. Strong drugs. And I'm sure recovery of swimming figured in there somewhere. And then. I slept all night. Geez.

But now, I'm just fine. Back to running errands today. Massive hugs for Brian for bring there. At one point I woke up to find a blanket over me. I know I didn't do that. <3

So there you have it. I needed the procedure, but it was just part of my day. I've had it several times. It's still kinda scary because it's a procedure. But you roll with the punches. It's part of dialysis. And there was a steady stream of dialysis patients at the clinic getting procedures. 2 doctors. 2 teams. 2 procedure rooms. Of course I was clowning. And during recovery, a patient in the stall next to me waiting for the procedure (his first time) starting clowning with me! Lol.

That's it for today! Looking at the 80s by the end of the week. Time to pull out the sandals. And yes, I had my pedicure last week! :-D Have a wonderful day!

Procedure room.