My return to hemo continues - Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hi All, I know you maybe anxious to hear how my day went today, especially since what transpired on my second return to hemo, on Saturday, July 16, 2011. Well first after speaking to my neph Dr. Ahmad and also the case manager - Ray about what transpired on Saturday, July 16, 2011. Ray ask, if the set schedule for my treatment, could have conflicting issues. i replied with yes, well it is not conflicting for me the patient, but for my family, who are accomdating me and compromising their schedules, in order for me to be able to get to the unit for my hemodialysis treatment. I love them so much for all they sacrifice (my husband's work schedule, as well as my daughter's school and work schedule). Well back to the topic at hand, after talking to ray, he had Tina (unit cordinator), call me, first she was gracious enough to apologize for the incident that happen last Saturday, (by now you know the date, so i shouldn't have to repeat the date anymore, right!) She ask me if 5:30 AM - T TH Sat, would be a more feasible schedule, and of course, that would help a great deal in not conflicting my husband and daugher's schedule any further. So, i agree to the new time, however, i got to thinking after i gave my OK, and said, how in the world, am i going to be able to comply to this schedule on a regular basis. Getting up early three days a week, (well at least two days a week and one day on the weekend), Tuesday morning on my lst day of my new schedule, i was awaken by my husband, (who truly never have any issues with getting up early), so i did rely on him to wake me up. It is 4:45 am and i was in such a daze, i setup in bed for about five minutes, struggling to get the cobwebs out of my head, and finally i am fully awake. Did the usual, godliness and i got dressed and gather up my what i call my dialysis gear (my blanket, e-book, word search booklet, unsalted crackers (if needed for a snack) and of coure, my coat (because of the chilly weather in the morning) yeah it is summer, but it is always chilly in the early morning and of course my purse. I am now on my way to the unit, i arrive at about 5:15 AM. This early in the morning, they do keep the front door of the unit open, but i do notice that when i was on the third shift, the door is always closed, and you have to inform the receptionist that you are hear, and then that is when you are called in by the tech or nurse assigned to you. First my weight is taken, and i am pretty pleased with the outcome, i went home over the weekend at 50.6 and i returned after the weekend (which is the test, to see if i had went overboard with my fluid intake for two days). My reading was 52.6, so i had only put on 2.0 kg, so that was truly good for the weekend. I was assigned to a seat this time up front, and this time, i was so happy to see some familiar faces from my ole' hemo days. They were happy to see me all the same. While going through the vitals and then the nurse doing the usual preparation to connect me to the dialyzer and the tech showing me the little white tab, to give my OK that it was clear, it is now time to rock and roll. While watching Good Morning America, the nurse manager Tina,comes over, and she first ask, how is the new schedule working out for you. I replied it is great, thank you so much for putting me on the first schedule, it works out great with my husband and daughter's schedule. She then brings up the incidence from Saturday once again. I simply said, these things happen, and i am sorry that i had to seek medical attention at Kaiser, because it seem like they felt this whole situation should have been avoided, because of the fact, that a nurse doesn't close your unit on Saturday. I told Tina, The nurse at Kaiser stated, you never know when you will have an incidence like this, or anything emergency wise, that could occur as a result of hemo treatment. And then after listening to me, she replies with i am glad that the situation was remedied and i hope you have a smooth treatment session and that this doesn't occur again. About an hour into my treatment, one of the fellow pts. across from me, had her grandson come over to me, and i was truly wondering why he was approaching me, he said hi and that his grandmother remembers me from a long time ago on hemo, well anyway, my grandmother is concerned about you placing your purse down on the floor on the side of your chair, because there has been very serious stealing in the unit, like she mentioned one of the pts. had a very expensive camera stolen from him, while he was sleeping. She even told me that it wouldn't even be safe, stationed right by me in the chair, she told me to place it at the back shelf behind my chair, because even if the purse is by your side in the chair, if you happen to fall to sleep, it can be stolen just like that, in a matter of seconds. So, i told her i think it will be find by my side, as i don't intend to fall to sleep. And of course i didn't, i watched the entire segment of GMA, and then proceeded to do some of my word search booklet and also read one of my books on my nook. Soon, i only had about ten minutes left for my treatment to end. My husband arrived and then it was time to disconnect me. The nurse did the usual disconnecting and changing the dressing as well. I then packed everything up and did the usual weight, and it was 50.7, Steven ( i don't need to keep saying husband right!) and I left and as i was getting into the car, i felt a wet feeling once again, and notice sho nuff, that i was bleeding, this time i was still at the unit, so i immediately went back in the unit, and the nurse promptly tells me to have a sit and she began applying pressure to the bleeding area for about five minutes, she then instructs me to hold it further, i guess she didn't really have the time to just sit there and hold pressure to my chest. Of course, i couldn't hold it with my left hand, as i do have RA, so i used my right hand, but it was a little bit awkward, boy! is my left hand missed, because my right hand is just so helpless, i don't think i will ever be able to use my right hand, like i relied on my left hand in the past, (trying to put cologne on this morning, was most difficult, i had to use my teeth to open up the bottle, go figure!), yes i couldn't hold the bottle in my left hand as usual and use my right hand to unscrew the top. oh well, i will do my best to hold it with as much pressure as i can. Steven then walks over to see what was up with all this, and i told him i am just holding pressure to my catherer area. My hand began to cramp, and i told Steven and then he masked and glove up and took over the holding pressure to the site. The nurse then comes back over and then she tells Steven to remove the gauze, to see if the bleeding had stopped, so she examined it very closely, to see exactly where the bleeding was coming from, and it was discovered that the bleeding was coming from the hole of the incision, she then says i know exactly why you are having all this bleeding, it is because of the amount of heparin that you are administered during the hemo treatment, to keep your blood from clotting and causing problems in the dialyzer. You see you have to have heparin to thinning the blood, so that the treatment can run smoothly and the blood flow rate is a good level. So, after talking to my nephrologist, he informed her to only give me heparin for an hour into the treatment, and that should remedy this bleeding issue. So, we will see, when i have my next scheduled treatment on Thursday, if this will truly be the solution, and if not, and this occurs again, it maybe an issue where the surgery, would have to examine the catherer, and determine if further surgery needs to be done to repair this problem. I am finally on my way home and it seems that everything is OK. I ate my lunch and took my usual NAP to rejuvenate after a 3 1/2 hemo treatment, cleaning my blood (removing the toxins and excess fluid) from my body, you need to rejuvenate, so the blood can began to circulate at normal capacity. After about a 2 hour NAP, i felt pretty OK and the catherer site seem fine also (no bleeding). Well, that is it for now, until my next blog after my next hemo treatment, to see if this less heparin thing is going to work, i will keep you posted on the outcome. Take care and all the best to my bloggers, stay healthy and compliant. Glo