Let the "fun" begin!

      

HOME AT LAST!

After 8 weeks of training, we are now home doing our dialysis. Brogan has been a good nurse, but I have been a bad patient.  Actually, the first time we tried it, the machine was not cooperative, and we had a hard time getting treatment underway. The second time we did it, I had MASSIVE cramps..holy smoke!
       Besides filtering out toxins from your blood, the dialysis machine also takes fluid out of your blood.When the excess fluid is gone from the blood, it will also take fluid out your tissues where it can gather, like your ankles, legs, even face.
When you have no more fluid to "give", that is when the cramps can start in, and man, they are painful. I went through a good 10 minutes of pure hell, as Brogan tried to relieve my cramps.

Nurse Brogan holding my "kidney"

        First, she cut back the "goal" which is the amount of fluid you want to lose, based on your daily weight. That didn't help, so then she stopped taking off fluid, and just kept cleaning the blood of toxins, which is accomplished by a mere button push. I was STILL hollering bloody murder, so she finally had to give me saline fluid to replace the fluid I just had taken off with the machine. I hate having to get fluid, when I am trying to LOSE fluid, but it is the only way to relieve the darn cramps. I ended up having 7 pounds of fluid taken off, and then almost another pound put back on via saline fluid. Bummer.

saline aka cramp reliever

       The third time was a total ABORT MISSION. We got all set up and ready to go. The needles went in smoothly and with no pain, (well, not really). Brogan turned on the machine, and my venous line pressure,  which is where the blood goes back into my body after being cleaned, started to go up very high. It is supposed to run around 180-200, and it went up to 300, and then shot up to 500, alarms blaring.
        She hit the MUTE button, and untaped the venous line. As she gingerly tried to reset it, while constantly watching the numbers, it was alarming over and over, and then suddenly, it started to bleed down my arm from around the needle, which needless to say, is not a good sign. The pressure reading was way high, and since I was bleeding, we said (frankly) screw this, we will try it tomorrow.

One down, one to go

        We took out the needles, and I decided not to take my blood thinner, which I think was the cause of the blood leakage. I think my levels are a bit high, a constant issue as anyone on blood thinner will tell you.

Mission accomplished at last!

       So we tried it again last night, and although I still had some cramps, we got a full treatment in, relatively easily for once. I suspect it will get easier as we go, and am looking forward to that!

One more week!

   The last week of home dialysis training is here at last! Brogan and I have been traveling every other day for 8 weeks to learn how to dialysis at home. We are down to our last week of travel, and then we will start doing the treatments at home.
I didn't think we would ever finish, but one week from tomorrow we start doing treatments at home. It will certainly give new meaning to  the term "needle work".

Someone looking a little TOO eager to stick me

   
     We have made great progress in learning all the ins and outs of doing home dialysis, and have had a few laughs doing it. The nurse training us, Cindy, has enjoyed teaching us I think. We have been an "unusual" pair, that is for sure. I do believe she is planning on coming to visit us with a bottle of champagne in hand..and treats for the horses and pot bellied pigs.

Tools of the trade

The correct terminology is BIG HONKING NEEDLE

     We have mastered the machinery, the dialysis machine as well as the water machine, which also will be adorning my living room. The water machine purifies the water, which is mixed with an "acid" and "bicarbonate" which then runs through the artificial kidney, and that mixture is what "cleans" my blood before it is sent back into my veins.

Feeling the fistula to find a "good spot"

     Once I am "cannulated", or in lay mans terms..stuck with two needles, I am then hooked up to the machine. My  treatment takes 4 hours, and then I am done for another day.

To quote my youngest.."BIG OW!"

Note close proximity of boob to lines..Boob is chief antagonist in setting off alarms..If you are doing dialysis, and are a female, be advised to keep boob OFF THE LINES..Alarms WILL SOUND if boob gets caught in tubing.

     

Hooked to machine..let the treatment begin! (It is, indeed the longest 4 hours of my day.)

        Tune in next week for photos from our first home session. I expect dogs and cats, and maybe a pot bellied pig to be in the fray. They can not send home TOO much disinfectant!  See ya in a week!