a question about 'dry weight'

[boswife]

Ok, so my hubbys "dry weight" in pounds is in think 163 (im actually not sure right now which i feel bad about). His weight latly has been 170 then they pull off 4 kelos, and were gradually getting it down to 'dry'.  Now, he just got over the stomach flu, and his weight is 159 and he feels great.  Are they now going to try to give him fluids to come *UP* to his dry weight??   We dont want them to do that as he is working hard to keep fluids down and no swelling.  Can they tell through the machine if he NEEDS the fluids due to dehydration?  or would they just give it to him because of the danged DRY weight syndrom.  Thanks for any info....

[calypso]

If he feels great there is no reason to give him fluids. His dry weight may need to be changed to the new #.

[boswife]

I sure hope they will just leave it bee... Thanks for the speedy response... Im fretting tomorrow and what to do if they want to add fluid.  Oh, and what about the machine.  Can it tell if he "needs" fluid like if he's dehidrated from .................  well puking and diareha ??

[Hanify]

Sometimes they keep going down - if that makes sense, to 'find' his dry weight.  This means they may keep going down until he gets sick.  This sounds barbaric, but I think it is the only way to be absolutely sure there is no extra fluid floating around.

[Rerun]

Some centers can run a "Crit" line which tells.... well let me look it up.....:

B l o o d Volume M o n i t o r i n g : How CRIT- L I N E  c a n   h e l p   y o u .

The CRIT-LINE is a window into your bloodstream that, for the first time, allows you and your health care team to determine if they are removing fluid from you too fast. This is called “Blood Volume Monitoring.” To safely determine your ideal dry weight with the CRIT-LINE, first you must understand the relationship between hematocrit and blood volume change. Hematocrit (HCT) is the ratio of red blood cells (RBCs) in your bloodstream compared to your total blood volume. It is reported as a percentage, i.e., your goal is 33-36%.

[boswife]

Thanks so much friends    Boy, is it something to be able to ask people who have been there and feel this stuff...  So anyway, he went in at 72.7 and his dry weight is 73.2.  So, they will be only keeping out 1/2 of what he usually takes (4) because STILL he had a dot of swelling.  This should be easier on him though thatn the 4 so we're happy with him and his efforts..  Thanks again for info...  "the wife"

[RichardMEL]

If he's feeling good and has no swelling at his lower weight the dry weight should be adjusted and maybe even could go a little lower. Take into account that if he's just been sick for some time then he most likely will have lost real body weight due to lack of eating or other things, and possibly muscle mass due to lack of exercise, so that will bring down the body weight too.. so the dry weight should be reassessed.

I agree also that a BVM is a good idea to get a much better idea of what's happening inside with his fluid refilling, and will give an idea if he's close to or off his ideal dry weight. I'd ask for it to be done.

Certainly no reason that I can see to push saline IN to go UP to an old dry weight.