My Diary
My Life in Words
Morning
Not the first time I do not have a caregiver coming on a Saturday morning to help me get ready and out the door for dialysis treatment, but I do have a friend who will help me make sure I get out and downstairs this morning. A cat who wants to be with me and does not want me to go will likely follow me out the door. Even though I moved and am on the third floor, I cannot take any chances of Magic Kitty getting out because he is dead weight. He is not like my second kitty Bing Crosby. Bing liked to be picked up under his front legs, and that evened out his fifteen-pound weight for me. Yes, there are days I miss him, and Magic helps me with that. I love Magic very much. Although Magic is my emotional support animal, I must admit that I allow him to be a cat.
Afternoon
Although I write about dialysis in another area, I will say this one thing—I got on the machine to dialyze at 8:15 AM, got out of the clinic by 11:25 PM, and waited for my ride home until noon and in my apartment by 12:30 PM. More dialysis updates at Dialysis Update. Anyway, with that said, I can say I had lunch while watching 3ABN’s Pioneer Church’s New Perceptions sermon by Dr. Dwight Nelson. After listening to the sermon (pre-recorded and aired later), I turned off the TV and waited patiently for my friend JM, KB (boyfriend), and his mom TB to arrive to have worship.
When my company came, TB and KB made it in the first, while JM got here a minute or so later. I wondered who was going to make it first this time in a while. JM and TB are good friends, and they are similar in ways, and I love them both. It is great to see and hear them tease each other each week. When both get into their conversation teasingly, I will roll my eyes or act like, “what have I got myself into?” and TB laughs with me. When I see KB, TB, and JM every Saturday afternoon, it locks my Saturday afternoon in place, ending the week well. Sometimes TB is on call or cannot make it, so JM is the only one who makes it. Today, we worshiped by reading today’s quarterly reading, listening to beautiful Christian music, and chatting about subjects that mattered to us. The music we listened to was songs that touched TB and JM’s hearts.
Evening
For some reason, dialysis kind of wiped me out today. I am tired. I watched and listened to Law & Order: SVU, rewatching season 11 again. I am going to get some sleep now and come back tomorrow. I have had a perfect day and am glad that my dialysis weekend has arrived. I know I will be up early tomorrow (Sunday). The weather has been gorgeous from morning to evening, so my living room window has been opened so we can have fresh air. I did not have to wear my jacket this morning. That’s how gorgeous it was today. I still think Mother Nature seems to be confused. It is spring, and yet it gets chilly like winter these days.
Dialysis Updates
April 19 – Dialysis had a rough start, but as time moved forward, dialyzing got better. When I was first being prepped to be put on the machine, my catheter did not want to pull, so a dialysis nurse looked and got my catheter to at least pull and push after a power wash with saline solution. I got hooked up, and my pressures were high, and the speed was put at 290, which is low, but the blood gets clean of toxins, wastes, and fluid.
I saw Dr. A, and we talked about how I am doing. I mentioned that I do not think I have access points for another graft or fistula placement. He confirmed it and let Dr. S talk to me when he returns from vacation.
The idea of dialyzing for three hours is still amazing in my book. I have gotten to the clinic early Saturday, and today that I have sat in chair #1 in pod 1. It has been a treat. Today the technicians and nurses had to pull a machine and replace it with another. That is why I was sitting in chair #1 again today. Saturday, I sat in chair #1 because the technician in pod 1 wanted to change things up a bit.
April 21 – I get to dialysis early and sit in chair #2. The pressures were good, and the speed was above 300. I need to learn more about the speed of the dialysis machine. For a Thursday, dialysis went smoothly, and at the same time, the alarm went off when I moved my head a few times. I could not sit still because I had CP movements going on. The technician and nurse in my care took the time to talk to me about how to take off/out of me, which was 2.5 kilograms, and we ended up taking 2.4 kilograms because of the alarms.
April 23 – For the past three weeks (Saturdays), I have been getting to the dialysis clinic a few minutes after 8 AM, and today I got there at 8 AM on the dot. I barely sat down, and the technician in pod 1 came and got me. I was hooked up to the machine by 8:15 AM.
The treatment went smoothly. The machine did not alarm. I did have to lay back because of the pressures; although normal, my catheter was having positional issues. I did not get to go to church on zoom this morning.
