Dialysis training
So last week, I spent four days of the work week at the hospital taking a course on Peritoneal Dialysis. Yeah, fun. Want to spend days in a hospital that is a major pain to reach due to horrible traffic and lack of urban planning, where they surgically modify your body and then teach you how to live with those modifications. Sound fun?
The people were…awesome. The nurses, orderlies, and the doctors could not have been better in how I was treated. How we were treated, actually, since my amazing wife came with me. I mean, day one is scary enough, since they are planning to cut you open and pull out the PD catheter so you can use it. They’re going to use local anesthesia, but I’m always worried that it’s going to hurt anyway.
Thankfully, it didn’t. When they tried to use it, that was a bit painful. Apparently mine was somewhat blocked, so they had to use a medical equivalent of Draino. And apparently constipation is very bad for PD.
So they taught me how to do a 2-bag exchange, which is gravity fed and works if your power is out. We had drainage issues until they changed the “transfer set” connected to my catheter. Having it suddenly work was a relief, as I didn’t realize that getting it working could be a problem.
But, while the 2-bag exchange is important to know, it is not efficient on time if you have to do it 4-times per day, and after a blood test that’s the frequency they gave me. Apparently a BP of 150/95 is not a good thing. They recommended that I learn to use the cycler machine, and do all of my dialysis at night on an 8-hour program. Then I don’t need to do anything during the day.
So, the next day focused on the cycler. There’s a whole process to set it up, and in general, any connections and disconnections from your catheter have to be handled with extreme care to avoid infection. The catheter is a channel right into your body for any kind of bacteria, and during training, they stress that, a lot.
Four days of this course was a lot to stand, but it’s not like you can afford to take the subject lightly. I would have handled it all much better if it were not for a completely unrelated injury that had me using a cane, and considering a wheelchair. I’m still limping after a week. Rotten timing.
The life changes required by this situation are scary for a person like me who is not the biggest fan of change. I’ll detail the major changes in another post, but lets just say that while those changes are jarring and difficult, I am still alive. Without them, I would not be in a short period of time, so I am thankful to everyone who is a considerate part of this process, whose sole mission is to keep me alive.
I truly hope to not let you down.