I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Home Dialysis => Topic started by: sassy on January 26, 2008, 01:50:44 PM
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I started on PD in Nov - 07 and was going along pretty well until I aquired a Plureal Effusion - (Fluid around the lungs) caused by a leakor weakness in the peritoneal lining somewhere. Just wondering how common this is and if anyone else has had to go thru this. They drained off the fluid yesterday - Jan. 25 (not a fun thing to have done) and put in a catether to put me on HEMO for a while thinking that this will give the peritoneal time to heal. I am not looking forward to starting HEMO on Monday -- Jan. 28, mainly because I didn't research much about it because I knew I was initially starting out with PD. Any tips for first timers on the HEMO machines? What to take with me, what questions to ask at the clinic?
EDITED:Moved to Home dialysis section-kitkatz,moderator
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Best advice I can give you sassy is to not have too much fluid on between treatments. The more fluid you have on the worse your treatments will be with getting nauseous and cramping. Hubby has been on hemo for almost 8 years now and was on PD before that. He finds hemo a lot better but that is a personal choice. Some people like pd better. Take good care of yourself. :cuddle;
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Take something to keep yourself entertained. Books, puzzle books, MP3 player, that sort of thing. Some clinics also have TVs set up for each patient, but you'll need to take a set of headphones with you in order to hear it. Sorry you're having to go back on Hemo...at least it's only temporary!
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http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=2004.0
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=2179.0
Here's a couple of posts about first days - the first link is my diary of my first few weeks when I started. The second is a more general post where people gave their best bits of advice for anyone starting.
Bring a blanket, and some sort of warmer - either the little camping hand held ones, or the ones that pop into the microwave and stay warm for an hour or so. They help immensely. You are going to be cold.
Something the nurses won't tell you at the beginning - you control your dry weight - and they are supposed to set the goals you want. So if you know you ate more than usual or have any other reason to be heavier than your regular dry wt, don't let them drain you into a crash.
If you feel odd at all, restless and twitchy, have them check your blood pressure - the first signs of it dropping can often be very subtle.
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jbeany,
Thanks for the info. Got thru the first treatment without much cramping, or being nausous, but the catherter was not working like it should. They will try again on Weds to see if it does what its suppose to do. If not, they will have to have it checked out - something with the flow rate not high enough........ should have been 450, and mine was at 250. Course, this is all new to me, but I think that's what they said. I did feel kind of weird when I got off the machine, kind of a foggy kind of feeling and tired when I got home. Developed a headache before I went to bed. Today, I am a little nausous every now and then, but not bad. Hopefully, the next treatment will be better.