introduction for ahamner

[ahamner]

I am new to the list and also new to dialysis.  I have Polysistic Kidney Disease and was diagnosed with kidney failure on March 15, 2006. Since then I have started dialysis and so far have experienced a session where my blood pressure dropped and they had to raise my feet above my head and administer saline to raise my pressure. Another session I had extreme stomach cramps and had to be removed from dialysis early. Yesterday a new experience was an extreme case of shivers caused by a persentent fever I have had since my surgery to install my catheter. I am on hemodialysis at a Davita clinic.

My father died of kidney failure in the days prior to dialysis being widely avaiable so I am very thankful that this treatment exists.  Thanks Epoman for creating this site.  I have just started reading though the forum and there is much valuable information.

[Black]

I am new to the list and also new to dialysis.  I have Polysistic Kidney Disease and was diagnosed with kidney failure on March 15, 2006. Since then I have started dialysis and so far have experienced a session where my blood pressure dropped and they had to raise my feet above my head and administer saline to raise my pressure. Another session I had extreme stomach cramps and had to be removed from dialysis early. Yesterday a new experience was an extreme case of shivers caused by a persentent fever I have had since my surgery to install my catheter. I am on hemodialysis at a Davita clinic.

My father died of kidney failure in the days prior to dialysis being widely available so I am very thankful that this treatment exists.  Thanks Epoman for creating this site.  I have just started reading though the forum and there is much valuable information.

Welcome and glad to see you here -- you'll learn a lot.  Sorry you're off to a rough start; according to some of the old hands on here it gets better as they determine your "dry weight".  My husband has PKD and is currently at 15% kidney function.  He had Cimino fistula done 1/26 and will be training on a NxStage in DaVita clinic in Atlanta when the time comes.  He has a son and daughter both in their 30s & diagnosed w/ PKD.  There is at least one other person here w/ PKD, so maybe we can help each other deal w/ this.  I look forward to your posts.

[Bajanne]

Welcome to this site.  I can't begin to tell you how much it has meant to me since I started dialysis last September.  I do have to agree that it is going to get better.  I had all those experiences in my first months, but I hardly have them now.  Just keep to your fluid restriction as much as you can (I, for one, know this is not easy).  This really helps you to come off dialysis not feeling as if a truck has run over you.
I am glad you have started reading the posts.  Go back through all of them. There is so much helpful information.

[ahamner]

Thanks, Black.  It sounds like your husband is getting good care.  When I was tested in December I was at 18% but nothing was recommended by my Nephrologist to prepare for future dialysis so I am using a catheter.  I wish I had already had the surgery for a fistula.

Thanks, bajanne2000. I am beginning to understand the variables.  I am doing good on the fluid restriction now and have come in the clinic at the same weight as when I left for the last two times.

[Rerun]

Welcome to the site Ahammer.  Doesn't sound like you were too prepared for kidney failure.  Kind of like "Surprise, your life is going to change today."  This is a good place to visit and learn and ask questions.  Please let us know your age and what part of the country you are from.    

[Black]

Thanks, Black.  It sounds like your husband is getting good care. ...

Actually he wasn't until I began doing research on-line and found sites like this.  In fact, what I learned on www.lifeoptions.org probably added many years to his life.  Things I've learned here, and on other sites, have and will add quality to his life.  (The information and support I've gotten from other posters on-line has been the only silver lining in this whole mess.)  Because of our previous bad experiences with the medical community, I had learned many years ago to be very wary -- it isn't always easy to recognize an idiot wearing a "doctor suit".  However, I was still surprised to find the level of ignorance and incompetence at every level while trying to learn about PKD, kidney failure, and dialysis -- with issues so critical, I had naively expected better.

In other words, don't depend solely on your medical team for answers.  Being here is a giant step in the right direction.

[Epoman]

I am new to the list and also new to dialysis.  I have Polysistic Kidney Disease and was diagnosed with kidney failure on March 15, 2006. Since then I have started dialysis and so far have experienced a session where my blood pressure dropped and they had to raise my feet above my head and administer saline to raise my pressure. Another session I had extreme stomach cramps and had to be removed from dialysis early. Yesterday a new experience was an extreme case of shivers caused by a persentent fever I have had since my surgery to install my catheter. I am on hemodialysis at a Davita clinic.

My father died of kidney failure in the days prior to dialysis being widely avaiable so I am very thankful that this treatment exists.  Thanks Epoman for creating this site.  I have just started reading though the forum and there is much valuable information.

Your welcome, and thank you for joining us. Post often and help answer questions when you can. The bigger this site gets the more it will help others. Again welcome.

- Epoman