Hi followers, first, my continued efforts with the awareness of CKD, and to continue urging people out there, to consider being tested for possible early stage CKD. CKD is very seriously on the rise in this country, and all over the world for that matter. I can't stress this enough, it is so very important to consider being tested for possible early stage CKD, so that preventive measures can be taken early on, in helping to prolong or even in some cases, reverse the progression of CKD, especially those with a history or family history of diabetes and/or high blood pressure (two of the main causes of CKD). I have PKD - Polycystic Kidney Disease, which is an inherited kidney disease. There are varies other natures of the development of CKD, such as other diseases, illness, as well as an injury of such, that could damage kidneys, but could be acute kidney failure, which can potentially be reversible. Now, on to the topic at hand. People can we talk, the saga continues with my issues with this so called UF target software, that was installed in the Baxter PD cyclers, and yes, I have been having my issues with this for awhile, and I am not a happy camper. I did however, address this to my neph, as well as my PD nurse on thursday, and my PD nurse, changed my UF target from 200 to 0, Yeah right! 0 come now, are you kidding me, that truly defeated the purpose, NO!! that was not the solution, let me break it down to you, After making these adjustments to my UF target setup, I begin my ten hour nightly therapy. I went through the five exchanges, well anyway, the four exchanges went smoothly, no alarms, but when I got to the last drain, which was the 5th drain of the 5th exchange (and the last exchange for the therapy), it began to alarm and the Low UF began to flash, as usual, I kept hitting stop, and checking the number by down arrowing, and it was on 150. After about three times, it displayed - End of therapy, so I continued with the usual, disconnecting myself and cleaning my PD catherer, I continued by recording the readings to my monthly flow sheet, and this is the reading results - ID (Initial Drain - 14) UF total - 449, Average Dwell Time - 1:31, and this was mind you, with a 2.5 X 2 as my prescription setup. I went about my day, and early evening I setup my cycler for another 10 hour therapy, this time with a 2.5 and 1.5 prescription, ID - 37, then it precded with the usual exchanges through the night, no alarms, but the start of the 5 and final drain of the therapy, the alarms and Low UF flashing occur, and after going through the same protcol, the display - reads end of therapy - I did the usual disconnect, cleaning catherer, and then recording the readings - ID - 37, total UF - 7, Average Dwell Time - 1:24, this was a very sad and pitiful reading, and I felt it, when I attempted to start my productive day, I notice that my feet were swollen, as well as my face and chin. I went downstairs to the kitchen. Now usually I would have trouble with going up the stairs, whenever I may have a fluid overload, but this time, I was having difficulty even going downstairs, without getting out of breathe, imagine that. I was so miserable all day long. I decided before my setup for my nightly cycler treatment, that I would experiment with the UF target setup, because I came up to the conclusion, that after this new setup didn't bring much success, that my PD nurse, was truly just guessing at my UF target number, so I took it upon myself, to do my own little experiment, and I decided to set my UF target to 150, because the 200 setup wasn't working for me, which was obvious, because of my ridiculously total UF reading. After setting my UF target to 150, early evening I began my 10 hr. cycler treatment, I guess I had an excessive amount of fluid still inside my body, as I don't do a last fill. The ID read - 132, so I preceded with the usual exchanges during the night, no alarms, running smoothly, and now the test of time, It was time for the 5th drain of 5th exchange, and Hallejuah! no alarms, no Low UF flashing, it just continued to drain, so smoothly and pretty fast I must say, until it displayed - End of Therapy - Oh Boy! was I relieved and pleased with this 10 hr. therapy treatment. I was so anxious for my readings - that I just closed my transfer set, and took the readings, before disconnecting from the cycler and doing the usual cleansing of the PD catherer - the reading - Drum Roll, Please - ID - 132, total UF - (the grand total of 358), and my Average Dwell was also in the norm - 1:35, and all this came about, with my experimenting with the UF target setup, (let me just pat myself on the back - lol) I can't wait to share this with my PD nurse (who is suppose to have been trained for this new software, yeah right!), and of course, my neph as well. My b/p was normal at - 116/77 (87), so I was very pleased with these readings. My day went so much more productive today (Sunday), I am also looking forward to a good meal for dinner, consisting of my husband grilling chicken and steaks, because it is way too hot here in the bay area, to cook, however, I will prepare some side dishes, corn on the cob, and a cold pasta vinegerette salad. I didn't eat anything last night, because of the fluid overload, I didn't have much appetiite, nor was I thirsty, so I didn't have to limit my fluid intake, and that was a good thing. Now, if any of my Baxter Cycler PD family, are coping with these issues with Low UF, then I feel for you, but strongly suggest you play around with your UF target setup to find out what target works for you. As always stay compliant with your renal diet and medication regimen as best as you can, and I know from long time experience, that this is easier said than done, you just need some serious will power and determination to succeed at this. Until my next blog, take care and all the best to my followers. Chime in, if you have thoughts or concerns about this blog. I look forward to all rebuttals to my blog post.
Glo
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