Thursday, July 12, 2012 - First, I want to start each and every post there after, spreading the awareness of CKD, starting today  - Spreading the awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which is very seriously on the rise in this country, and all over the world for that matter, urging people out there to strongly consider being tested for possible early stage CKD, because since my diagnose of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) back in 1990, they have created GFR - which stands for Glomerular Filitration Rate - creating this over fifteen years ago, has truly been a blessing for so many out there, who have been diagnosed with early stage CKD.  Preventive measures can be taken early on, in helping to prolong or even in some cases, reverse the progression of CKD.  So much has been discovered in the last decade and a 1/2, but there is still a stigma attached to CKD, because there are still many people walking around God green earth, not realizing, they could be potentially in the early stage of CKD.  The lack of education about the kidneys, is the main reason why the kidneys go undetected with possible early stage kidney disease (failure).  The fortunate fact that renal failure is becoming more and more prevalent in today's society, and of course, the fact that I have witness in the last decade, there are more and more younger adults, as well as older teens developing chronic kidney disease, and resulting to the development of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) (from one nature or another) and most importantly, those individuals that have a history or family history of diabetes and/or high blood pressure (two of the main causes of CKD).  Because of our aging population, and more and more baby boomers are surviving these days, kidney disease (failure) is affecting more people today than ever before.  Today more people suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity.  Many diseases have the potential to damage kidneys, impairing their ability to filter waste effectively and ultimately produces a life-threatening situation.  And like I mentioned early on,(and it bares repeating), the lack of education about the kidneys and how important they are to our health in general, is the main reason why the kidneys can go unnoticed with the possibility of early stages of chronic kidney disease and what can happen, when the kidneys began to lose function, and how important it could be to seek early testing, because it could be so beneficial to an individuals continued health in the future.  So my followers and others who read my blog post, if you haven't already, go get tested for possible early stage CKD, especially if you are experiencing high blood pressure, that is one of the main signs of possible Chronic Kidney Disease.  Listen up! Take Notice! Get a Clue! Wake up and Smell the Coffee, or Espresso, etc. etc.  Go Get Tested, OK.   I have been vigorously trying to reach out to many national as well as local talk shows around the country, to strongly consider doing a show topic on Chronic Kidney Disease, I have stressed to many of the national talk shows, that March is National Kidney Month, every year, and there is a day designated as World Kidney Day, which would be the perfect opportunity to spread the awareness of CKD, and to urge people to consider getting tested for possible early stage CKD.  In my opinion, I feel that CKD has been ignored by the media for far too long, and we need our voices heard from the Renal/Dialysis communities all over the world.  All walks of life are at risk at some point in their lives, and we truly need to help the awareness grow.  All that I have done, with emails in the last ten years, and before that, snail mail, it is just going on deafs ears, it seems that these talk shows are not taking Chronic Kidney Disease serious.  I guess if I was of some celebrity status, then maybe they will take notice.  We truly need some celebrities on our side, to make this happen.  I won't get discouraged, I will continue on my mission to spread the awareness of CKD, and continue the effort with annual kidney walks to raise awarness, help the continued government funding in hopes of finding a cure for CKD, as well as PKD, and also urge continued organ donation as well.


Now on with my usual blogging - This is to my PD family, Last Night, the usual setup for treatment was done, and then I began my initial drain about 10 PM.  During the fill 1 of 5, my cycler alarmed and displayed SLOW FLOW PATIENT - something I never experienced before, out of all my 11 years of PD treatment.  I immediately, restarted the fill volume, but I arrowed down to see how fast the fill volume was going, I could clearly see that it was filling very slow, something like four or five numbers at a time, vs. the usual ten to fifteen numbers at a time, and then it alarmed once again with that very same display.  I immediately went to my trusty help manual (that I have kept under my pillow, from day one of my cycler treatment), and referenced SLOW FLOW PATIENT, and there were three steps to check - 1) check for closed clamps (check)  2) check for kinks in the line (check)  3) check for fibrin (check), but I decided to put some heparin in the bag, as a precaution.  All this didn't help to remedy this problem.  After stumbling around in the dark, and practically looking at the upper front part of the cycler  (partially blind (lol), remember it is the wee hours of the morning (around 2 or 2:30 AM), for the Baxter help line # and also the serial # of the cycler, which is also my pt. account # as well, I promptly called Baxter, and of course, would you guess, they are experiencing an overload of calls, so I had to wait about ten minutes, and I wasn't going to hold that darn phone to my ear all that time, so yes, I put them on speaker, and while waiting I turned the TV back on, to pacify myself (lol).  The I love Lucy Show, in which I truly love to watch, and mainly because Direct  TV has removed over 26 channels from the programming, so my choices were very limited for that time of night, or morning, whatever.  I am still pissed about that, all this jazz about some company called Viacom, just gritty, that is all I can see, is why this happened.  We dialysis pts. don't ask for much, put I do enjoy watching many of those channels that they have eliminated.  Nickleodeon, BET, VH1, etc. etc., need I say more.  Well back to the cycler problem.  Finally a representative comes on the line, and you know the usual drill, your account # and what seems to be the problem - so I stated the Slow Flow Patient Display, and then she tells me to hit stop and then go and down arrow once, to check out the status of the fill volume, the alarm moments later goes off again with the same display.  She then goes through the scenario of all the three steps in the help manual, and then she tells me to check to see if my patient line tubing is flowing freely on the floor, not coiled up or anything (check), then she instructs me to open and close my transfer set a few times (check) next thing she instructs me to do is take any tape that could be stationed around my catherer, so I removed most of the secure tape (check), then she instructs me to hold all the tubing that sticks out from the cassette and pull them very firmly up and down several times (check), then hit the go bottom to resume the fill of the first exchange.  She waited on the line, and ask several times, where was the fill volume at, at the time it was on 320, then 324, then 328, it then alarms again, with the very same display.  So the representative came up with the solution, that it could be a problem with my PD catherer, or it could be a problem with the cassette, because the cycler is strugglling to flow freely through my PD catherer tubing to fill my peritoneum with dialysate (PD solution) for dwelling.  She then instructed me to end the therapy, and ask me did I need any assistance in completing this phase of the treatment therapy, but I assured her, that being on PD for over 11 years, I do know how to do this step, from past experience.  She then said do a manual exchange, after I disconnect from the cycler, and this will indicate if it could be my catherer, but of course, I was already convinced that it wasn't my catherer that was causing the problem.  My manual exchange went very smoothly, because all I did was drain the dialysate that the cycler tried to fill my peritoneum with, so I did a manual exchange, but I only drained what the cycler had put in so far, because I don't dwell any solution during the day (to lessen my risk of a possible 3rd umbilical hernia development).  I don't have a last fill, after my 5th and final exchange for my 10 hr treatment.  This was quite an ordeal for me, it was obvious I didn't get any sleep the entire night, so of course, I was quite sluggish and dragging all day long.  I hope and pray that my treatment therapy runs smoothly tonight, but I may have to endure this Low UF jazz, during my 5th and final drain for the day, so we'll see what transpires tonight.  That is it for my blogging, and I guess complaining for this post (lol).  Until my next blog, stay compliant with your renal diet and medication regimen dialysis pts.  take care and all the best to all my followers.
God is love, love is God,
Glo