easy to forget the benefits of home hemo

[josie]

Well, it's Saturday and i feel really good today, but not so good yesterday. Last Wednesday was supposed to be my one day off cause i dialyzed six days a week but I took Thursday off also so I could go to my sons band concert. I figured since I used to only do five days a week, I would be o.k.   Well, by Friday morning I felt like a truck had run me over. My big thing when I don't feel good is I am extremely tired. I won't make that mistake again.

also, for about the last month or so my top access buttonhole has been really painful when I start the access each day. Not the bottom one, because my fistula is pretty matured and I don't really feel it at all. Just where my venous goes in. so my partner and I are gonna start a new access up top with a sharp to start a new buttonhole site. My nurse gave us a dvd to watch about accessing with sharps, but I'm a little nervous cause I remember when I was on the unit in the beginning of my dialysis they were always infiltrating and leaving my arm completely full of blood and bruised. Part of that was because my fistula was still so immature, but still!
Well, we'll know next week. It's funny, because I don;t get squeemish about anything to do with my treatment, but at the exact moment when he is putting in or taking out my needles, I turn away.

[Wallyz]

I set two sets of button holes, and that way each set has two days to recover and heal, which cuts down on infections and swelling.

I know what you mean about feeling bad after missing.

[willowtreewren]

When we switched to home hemo with NxStage, they told us that it would be all right to skip a day once in a while, but NEVER go two days without dialysis.

So, if we have something going on that means we need to skip the day before or after our regular day off, I just adjust the schedule.

The good thing is that lessons learned the hard way really stick!

Best wishes,
Aleta

[petey]

josie,
You'll be fine with starting a new buttonhole, I'm sure.  My Marvin has been doing NxStage for almost 2 years now, but we've used the same set of buttonholes that we started when we did the training.  Occasionally, I have to stick with a sharp (Marvin's a fast healer, and sometimes our day off gives his access a chance to really heal over), but it's a piece of cake.  Sharps don't bother me at all.  And, like Aleta, we've missed two days in a week before (but never two back-to-back days), and Marvin's okay.  We don't make a habit of it, though.  One of the best things about home hemo is that we can adjust the schedule whenever WE want to -- it's not some clinic's scheduling that we have to fit into.

[cev]

My husband is doing 3 days on 1 day off 3 days on...... If we need to adjust his schedule we will do 4 or sometimes days on 1 day off --- 2 days off only if I can get him on really early the next day.  And he feels pretty bad.  Home dialysis has been really good for him. 

His venous access always hurts when sticking, we don't know why.  When we had to establish a new buttonhole, we went to the in-center dialysis unit everyday and they made sure we had a good buttonhole established before going home again.  We may be spoiled because his Neph/medical center/dialysis center are connected. 

BTW - he turns away when I stick him, but then can tell me what I need to do if I have trouble.   

[willowtreewren]

Hi, Cev,
I think there are times that I just hit a nerve wrong when I'm sticking my husband. Your husband's venous button hole may be hitting such a nerve.

My husband doesn't look away while I'm sticking him, but like yours, he alerts me to anything that doesn't feel quite right. I have never infiltrated him and I hope I never do. that fistula is so precious!

Sometimes I hit a nerve when I'm giving an insulin shot to one of my diabetic students. That kid is such a trooper, but I KNOW when the shot hurts even if he doesn't say so.
Aleta

[del]

Hubby always watches the needles go in and he will sometimes put them in himself. we have just the 2 butonholes but are quite capable of making a new buttonhole if we have to.  We have to use a sharp sometimes too.  seems like sometimes it just heals quickly.

[monrein]

My venous buttonhole was right through a nerve.  Same thing every time, but the buttonhole worked well so I kept it.  I got used to how it felt and the advantage of doing my own sticking was that I could slow down, speed up, whatever I felt I needed to do and the concentrating on getting the needle in the vein made the "pain" more of a sensation than an actual pain.  I compare it to pinching yourself versus a surprise pinch from someone else.