Saturday's Dialysis session went well. There was another nurse there who only comes in to this clinic once every couple of weeks. She had heard all about how many problems the others had trying to stick me, but she had not personally experienced the horrible experiences, so she just treated me like any other patient.
On the one hand, she came off rather cold, but on the other, she got me stuck on the first try each.
She also used size 15 needles instead of the 16 gauge that have been used up until this point. The needles went in and the session itself went great. My blood pressure never bottomed out, I didn't need oxygen and I didn't clot off the machine! Yay!
She also pulled over 5 pounds of fluid off of me. That was the biggest amount of fluid loss to date at one sitting.
Everything was awesome, until...
They pulled me off the machine, I hardly bled at all, they bandaged me up and 15 minutes or so after pulling the needles, I was out the door. Dan and Carolynn had come to get me and we stopped for dinner on the way home. I was fine when we got to the restaurant but by the time we got to the counter and ordered and I got my cup, things went south really fast.
I took my cup to the drink fountain to fill it up and by the time I walked that short distance, my ears had started to ring, I was dizzy, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
I went to the table instead and sat down, laying my head on my good arm, but the problems only intensified. After about 5 minutes I just had Carolynn go back up and tell them to box our order To Go and we left. I got home and made it to my bed before passing out for about 2 hours.
As it turns out, apparently that can happen if they pull too much fluid off at once. So, now we know. :( There was no cramping this time though, so I guess I'm not down to my dry weight yet? Hell I don't know. I'm going to tell the nurses about it today.
Oh, one other thing that happened... I have to drink a protein shake every time I go to dialysis too. We learned this last time that I need to drink my shake at the END of my session. lol They gave me my shake at the beginning of the session and then, with 2 hours left, I HAD TO GO!!!! I don't know if you've had that experience, but when I have to go, DAMMIT I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW! hehe (I had my gall bladder out years ago and I still have problems when I eat certain foods. Apparently protein shakes are among those certain foods)
They actually had to rinse me back, unhook me (leaving needles in place and just capping off the short tubes) and let me go to the bathroom with the set up still in place. It was horrible and scary and I never want to have to go through that again. So yeah, no more protein shakes at the start of my sessions.
Ok, almost time for the van to arrive for today's session so I'll wrap this up. The reason I didn't post on Saturday is fairly obvious. As for what has kept me away for the last few days... Everquest is now free to play. :) I've been busy killing stuff with my Husband.
More later!
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled on your blog while doing some research for fistula gram photos. I am a dialysis RN in North Carolina. I really enjoyed reading your blogs. It gives someone like me, who is on the other side, a much different and awakening view. I shared this with my co-workers as well. Sometimes it's hard for us to slow down and put ourselves in the patients shoes. I love every single one of my patients, just like they are my family. I hope that the surgeons get your fistula working and you will have problem free treatments soon. Best of luck to you.