Much better day today. Had my Doc look at the arterial access site...diagnosis= bruised so we went a little lower than where it was originally and off we went. Bam Alarm 24....(That one is getting real old real quick) Checked all the lines, realigned the needle, added a 2x2 under the base of the needle and we are golden! Ran a 47 FF at 370Qb took 3.5 hours. Drew pre and post labs today Went over taking the samples for the bacterial test and made a new batch of pureflow after treatment. The missus and I were a little testy today, but I chalk that up to us being tired and starting a new access. (Remember ya'll I have been on dialysis exactly one month) All in all not a bad day.
What a day! We got to the clinic and set up the machine...everything hunky dorey. The nurse sticks me while the missus follows with her hand. We get flashback like we're supposed to. The arterial needle is acting a little funky, but eventually starts drawing. We hook up and start treatment... Alarm 24! We run our checklist and realize it is the arterial access that is not working properly. We do a temporary disconnect and remove the arterial line. Clinic policy is 15 minutes max recycle for a temp disconnect. After some discussion, we decided to forego treatment today. Instead we went over troubleshooting the machine using "Nemo" (basically another IV bag we use as a person) went through all the air alarms, actually got to see them, it makes a lot more sense now. Also troubleshooted the Purelife machine as well. We gave my arm a break today, and will run 40L tomorrow, Thursday and Friday ...
Pretty uneventful day today...used the express warmer and bags for the first time (had to turn it all the way up!) and made our first batch in the pureflow. Gave myself EPO for the first time today!
Well, it has been almost three months now, since I started with NxStage and things are beginning to mellow out. I am dialyzing in the middle of the night now. I get up and on around 2 or 3 in the morning by myself and I am finished treatment by the time my husband wakes up in the morning to help me get off. This routine gives me the whole day and evening free. I don't feel as if my whole life revolves around dialysis. I run long treatments because I happen to agree with the people that believe longer, slower, gentler is better for your health and your fistula. I run 30 liters of dialysate and 350 BFR and my treatments last around 4.5 hours. I usually sleep for about half of that time and the rest of the time I read a book on my iPad. I get few alarms and most I can resolve myself now. We still have trouble pulling the needles to get me off. If we could just manage to do that better this ...
What a day! Everything started ok. We showed up at the clinic and immediately started setting up the system under the watchful eye of our training nurses. Got everything set up within 45 minutes (Not bad I think for the first time unassisted). I go ahead and sit in the chair and one of the nurses inserts the needles. The pain is lessening with the maturation of the buttonholes. Well she gets them in and taped up. The missus steps in and makes all the connections after pushing the heparin. One more double check and away we go. Bam Alarm #24. I had the checklist book in my lap so I immediately clamped the arterial and opened the book. As we are looking at causes, we look at the arerial needle area and start following the tubing. There was a kink in the arterial line just past the needle, where the nurse had bent the line upwards to tape it down. We loosened the tape and slide the arterial ...
Today we set up the machine today for the first time as the training nurses instructed us on how to do it. We discussed the pureflow system as well today. At the end of the treatment, Theresa removed the needles for me for the first time, she also pulled the post lab and flushed then venous line after they gave me some iron. Her only issue was when she was getting ready to draw my post lab, she tried to move the venous line towards her, almost pulling it loose! we stopped her before it moved though... Other than that she did AWESOME! The trainer told us today that from now on we are responsible for setup and hookup (except sticking for the moment) and we will be making out first batch of dialysate on Monday. So far so good... more tomorrow!
It was a good day. Our training team is great, and we are so ready to get on with this. I think we surprised them, today. They weren't planning to actually do any training this week but I guess we proved that we know enough and are ready to get a move on. So we are setting up the machine tomorrow... I don't know about the sticking thing... I think I'll wait a while for that. Now that we've actually started, I'm not so nervous. I'm just ready to get going and learn how to do this. Tomorrow. here we come!
The missus (sawyerT=caregiver) and I started our nxstage training today. I am the first person on nxstage at our clinic but the waiting list is growing almost daily. The two home dialysis nurses started their training Monday. Our trainer, Glinda is extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Today, all we did was run the machine with me on it. It was already set up when we arrived. Tomorrow however is another story, we get to set it up ourselves for the first time. Don't know if I will be sticking myself yet or not. My buttonholes are close to being formed. A little back history i guess is in order. I was diagnosed with CKD Stage 5 in October 2006. With diet, and meds we stayed off dialysis until 30 Jul 2010. I started in center that day. Went a total of 11 times. We were hoping to start straight onto nxstage but the best laid plans... Looking forward to tomorrow. ...
In April we took a 8 day trip to Kauai with our NxStage cycler. We arrived at LAX 2.5 hrs before our flight so we'd have plenty of time in case the airline gave us any hassles. I'd called reservations 3 times to make sure it was noted that I was bringing my portable dialysis machine and that I required a wheelchair (which I really didn't, but it moves you through the line alot quicker :>) I was armed with all the documentation - Flying with NxStage, CFR and Traveling with NxStage, a letter from my neph & lastly, the rounding report from my clinic. Since I'd heard others say they took their cycler onboard with them, I decided to go with the soft case - just certain that I'd breeze right through with no hassles. NOT!!! First off, the airline wanted to charge me $75.00 per box of medical supplies (yes, they were clearly marked as medical supplies - in red ink mind you) AND they told me ...
Hi everyone, I made a first successful trip out of the US with my NxStage. We just got back from a fabulous week at Atlantis Resort, Bahamas. The airline trip and going through customs went off without a hitch although my trip did require some planning. First and foremost, when traveling by air, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS call the airlines disability coordinator. I didn't do that on my last trip to Hawaii and boy was I sorry. I thought all I had to do was notify reservations that I was bringing my cycler and I'd just breeze through - NOT! So, let me say it again - call the disability coordinator! DOT regulations state that the airline must provide one so might as well use them. About 3 weeks before the trip I called to tell them I'd be bringing my cycler and about 18 boxes of supplies. I thought not a problem, they ARE medical supplies right? They should go for free. Boy ...
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