Dialysis Update
With dialysis, my blood gets clean at 2 hrs and 45 minutes very well. So unlike when I first started at 5 hrs at the beginning 6 years ago amazes me. A person can dialyze for 2 hrs and 30 minutes once in a while and the blood gets cleaned for a couple of days. This is why dialysis is done 3 times a week at hemodialysis. Peritoneal dialysis is done in the home, and I was dialyzed every night.
Anyway, I had my nephrologist Dr. Anjum visit this afternoon. We discussed my dry weight being at 84 kilograms. They weigh you in kilograms and not pounds. I get it and use a converter application on my phone that converts kilograms into pounds until I memorize the weigh-In and weigh-out numbers. I am kind of disappointed with my weight at this time, but I am under 190 pounds at this time. According to the weight being 180 pounds to have a kidney transplant is feasible and reachable, and realistic. We also discussed my lab results are either stable or holding their own as far my diseased kidney is concerned. It produces a little urine to this day, but not 3 ounces like it did before the disease hit in 2016. It just makes enough to wet my disposable underwear these days and it function is above 9% at third time. A good kidney needs to function properly at 25% or better not to be on dialysis. Dialysis can be peritoneal or hemodialysis. I had my disease for three years with my transplanted kidney—2016-2019—a 31 year run with the kidney before it decided to shut down. The run of the kidney was a great run and my mom’s husband was wary of me taking care of it with my run of taking care of myself and being kind of careless at times when I was a typical child and teenager growing up into adulthood. My mom thought different of her baby girl and would be very upset with me if I did not take care of it properly. Sometimes people have to be careful what they say and do with me! Ugh! After my meeting with Dr. Anjum, I was done for the day and got unhooked and left for the rest of the day. Next dialysis day is Wednesday.
Thoughts on Dialysis
I will be very honest, dialysis is not a bad thing, but it does take its toll on the body, and my body is getting tired of it physically. I do not mind going for 2 hrs and 45 minutes. I do have my favorite workers who are dialysis technicians and nurses and wanna-be doctors in the medical field. I also have my favorite patients I am friendly to and with I do consider myself friends with, but I am picky and choosy about friendships these days because I have been girt and burned by some friends because of their maturity level. I would prefer to be friends with people who are older than me because of maturity more likely than not my age group. I do have a couple of good friends who are younger than me and my boyfriend is fourteen years younger than me. Jackie is the only caregiver who is nine years younger than me as well. She does act mature for her age because of how she grew up as a child and teenager losing her mother at age 12 and her husband to cancer at age 41. Her life has not a happy one for her all the time. Her mother died because of medical reasons when she was 12 years old. When her husband died of cancer two years ago, it was another blow in her life. She does not want me to die, either. Anyway, life with dialysis is what it is until I have another kidney transplant, I did not get serious about it until 4 weeks ago.
With Covid out there, most hospitals want their kidney disease and transplant patients to have the Covid vaccines, and my mom is not wanting me to have the vaccines, nor has she and Lon have gotten them. My mom does not trust the flu shot! I get the flu shot every year without problems, but I believe my mother has has in the past and does not get the flu shot anymore. I don’t blame her to be honest with you. As far as the Covid vaccines are concerned, I planned on getting them until I lost a friend at dialysis who was keeping up with the Covid vaccine regimen that the hospital in Madison, Wisconsin until she passed away from a brain aneurysm at the age of 72 and she was getting ready to have her kidney transplant, and one day she did not walk into the clinic to her chair. That morning, I got a call from an unknown number and did not answer, and the social worker came in to tell a couple of us that Judy had died the day before. The unknown number was her husband calling me to give me details of Judy’s death. That was a blow in my life! Judy became my friend and we exchanged numbers to talk to each other in the last year of her life. Her death made me decide against the Covid vaccines. I did not trust them after that. Jackie and Debbie found a hospital in Wisconsin that does not require but recommends them for patients in the hospital and their workers. The place is Froedtert Hospital and Clinics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Froedtert is Kurtis Froedtert who was an American industrialist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin born in 1887 through 1951. Hmmm, a known reason why Froedtert Hospital exists today! Pretty cool! A Lutheran based hospital, too. Wow! Thanks, Kurtis Froedtert. Although I’m a Seventh Day Adventist today, I do not have a mean bond about Sunday keeping churches since I was a catholic and a baptist before becoming a Seventh Day Adventist in 1999. Now, before you judge me and my beliefs, do some research online about seventh day Adventist, please. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Well, my day is about over, and I have a semi-busy day tomorrow. I did have an appointment with my counselor but I had to cancel because of transportation issues. I did not call to schedule the appointment for that day I time. I did nit miss my nail appointment, though. That was one appointment I did not miss because the weather was decent enough to get to by power chair. I could have gone to my counseling, but it was cold in the morning, anc the first time in a long time, I had difficulty waking up this morning and stayed in my room in my lift chair until I got ready to go to my nail appointment at 2PM, leaving my place at 1:35 PM with Jackie walking with me today. The weather was warmer at 52 degrees. The weather was in the 30s and 40s this morning before noon. and brow. Not a tattoo but a birthmark.
