husband started dialysis

[smokinbeaver]

My husband, brokenpole, had the chest catheter for dialysis put in. Right afterwards they took him to the hospital's dialysis unit. They let me go with him since there were no patients in there at the time. The nephrologist came and said he was glad to see us both there. He explained the machine and kept making the alarms go off. The nurse exchanged glances with us and he was amused at the difficulties the dr had with the machine. It was hard for Jon not to laugh out loud. He stayed overnight in the hospital and had dialysis early the next morning. He did real well on it, no problems at all. Afterwards, they said he had to stay for lunch and they signed all the paperwork for him to be released. Our only problem was the 2 hr wait for someone to come with a wheelchair to take him because they won't let you walk out. I ended up going to get the wheelchair because they always showed up with a smaller one and had to go look for one. His nurse saw me bring it to him. After a bit she came and took him out for us herself.

He started going to the dialysis center this week on Tues., Thurs, and Saturadays. He has gone to work then goes there by 11:15am. He got a call yesterday morn. (Sat) to see if he wanted to come in early because they had a chair. He has done so well on the dialysis that hes found he can drive himmself there and home. Yesterday was the first time he has had any complications. He started having his heart feel like it was going nuts and it had arrythmia. Turns out they found what his true dry weight is and turned off the part that was removing water. They gave him some water to sip. They kept him there longer after the 4 hrs to make sure he was ok. His heart had stopped the arrythmia before evening. He seems to be fine this morning. The center he goes to isn't large or crowded. He says the nurses and technicians are very nice. They joke around with him which he likes. The people in the chairs don't talk to each other so its pretty quiet. Most the peple I have seen are older, and some look quite sick. He saw a younger person there yesterday. Maybe the older folks come to the later session. So far my husband seems to be adjusting pretty well to this. Hes not as upset as he was before. We are trying to feel positive about this whole thing. Thanks MaryJo for asking how we are!

[cassandra]

I'm glad to hear your first experiences went so well!

love Cas

[MaryJoe]

Sharon,    No problem, you guys have been on my mind all week.  I'm so glad everything has gone well (except for the arrhythmia).  Hopefully since they figured out the problem there will be no more of that nonsense!   Glad you're back! 

MJ

[Grumpy-1]

brokenpole and smokingbeaver  - Have you given any thought to PD instead of hemo?  I did hemo while the fistula and PD access where healing and moved to PD.  I find it is much better than Hemo in a number of ways.  1) Jon controls the sessions, when to start.  2) the diet is less restrictive 3) is done at home (or at work if needed).  4) have more freedom verse sitting in a chair 4 hours 3 times a week.   Grumpy

[smokinbeaver]

The nephrologist said he wasn't a candidate for PD Grumpy, sigh... I am not sure why? I know Jon asked about that before he even got the fistula. He says he doesn't feel any different yet. People kept telling him how much better he would feel once he started it. Guess it will take time. At least he doesn't feel any worse and is adjusting to it all well. His sense of humor is still there which says a lot. Thanks for thinking of us MaryJoe, and thanks for the replies guys.

Sharon

[lmunchkin]

Sharon, Im so glad Jon is having pretty good experiences with his D.  Its no pick nic, but people can live quite a long time doing D.  It will get better over time and ya'll will get use to the routine!

Good luck to you both.

lmunchkin

[smokinbeaver]

thankyou lmunchkin. The staff and the center here (fresenius or however you spell it) seems to be pretty good so far. A person's experience with hemodialysis is only good if their center have a good staff. He still hasn't had a dietician talk to him yet. I think we've been happier since they haven't dumped that on us yet. We've been researching the diet and water restrictions on our own though. Studied recipees and all, but it depresses me some. He doesn't like the veggies they say he can have at all.

Sharon

[billybags]

smokinbeaver, So glad you guys are doing well. The diet thing is another matter. OK you must keep a check on fluid, that is important but the diet, my husband is the one on D and his dietitian has always said a little of what you fancy is OK. but in moderation.

[lmunchkin]

BB is right on about this!  You can still have and enjoy the things you use to eat, but just reduce the size and the variety.  We use to eat real good before ESRD, but over time we had to reduce, reduce & reduce!  It was hard at first, but now we are use to it.

Everything in moderation, and Sharon, yall will be fine!

lmunchkin

[Grumpy-1]

Not sure if it was D and PD, but my capability to eat LARGE amounts of food at one sitting decreased greatly.  I now can only eat small portions at a sitting, but I'm grazing more.  I still have to watch what food I eat, but for the most part, I can eat anything I want.   Grumpy

[smokinbeaver]

Dietician did come to see him, and I drove over to talk to her too. She turned out to be very nice. My husband told her over and over he was diabetic, but she didn't get it till I talked to her too. She had to go get a bunch of different paperwork to give me. Wasn't very helpfull, none of it is. I found out more information already over the internet and on this site. Thanks guys for your replys!

Sharon