I've been on PD for almost 2 years now and with the same dialysis clinic. During that time as some of you know reading my complaints I was always thinking something wasn't right. When I would question my PD nurses why they were each telling me different things or to use different solutions, or being overall inconsistent in the way they treated me, I would always get the same line, "Just so you know, if you leave here to get your care someplace else, the grass is always greener on the other side. We are one of the best clinics around." They really scared me into thinking if I left it could actually be worse than it already was. Well recently things got so bad that I was pretty much forced to leave, I just couldn't deal with how I was being treated any longer.
It's been a painful process to say the least. As soon as my nephrologist and clinic found out I was leaving they stopped all care except for emergency care for 30 days while I found a new clinic. They didn't help me at all with the process. They acted so butthurt that I finally had had enough. I mean they acted like children, not grown adult professionals. So I had to do this all on my own and through much trial and error I finally found my new home (dialysis care.)
I was scared of going with Davita because they a are a huge company and I thought I would just be a number. The other day a lady from Davita called me to see if she could help me. She spent 20 minutes on the phone with me and in those 20 min she did more to answer my questions and concerns about my dialysis and meds than any of the doctors and nurses from the hospital I just left did in 3 years of treatment! I'm not even exaggerating. For instance, I have suffered from serious sleep problems the last few years. The PD nurses would always ask me the same questions off the form every month, "How's your sleeping?" I would say, "Terrible, I can't sleep and haven't slept in 2 days and it's been bad for months." And every single time they would completely ignore me, no follow up question, nothing. Then they would go to the next meaningless question, "How's your bowel movements...?" I mean if you don't care and are not going to follow up with any questions when I tell you something is wrong then why are you asking the questions in the first place and how is it that you are a nurse?!?!?
Here's a good one, "Any chest pains or shortness of breath?" Me, "I'm having really bad shortness of breath lately, I can't even walk up a small flight of stairs without having to stop several times and sometimes my chest hurts." Them, "How's your diet? Are you getting enough protein?" Excuse me? Hello! A patient is having shortness of breath and chest pains and no follow-up question at all??? What's the matter with you?
That's how it always was. This lady from Davita was AMAZING! She took the time to ask me why how I was feeling and why my previous clinic never prescribed me anything for sleeping or restless legs. She asked why I wasn't on the nighttime cycler and I told her I asked several times if I could try it and was shrugged off every single time with no answer what so ever so I gave up. She said she can't understand why they didn't have me try the cycler to make my life easier. She also questioned why I was on meds that were making me feel worse such as Lebatelol (makes me tired, short of breath, no sex drive, depressed, mood swings.) Again, I told my PD nurses every single time how much that drug was ruining my life and they didn't care at all. This lady sounded like she was genuine and really wanted to help me make my life better on dialysis. She wasn't just putting on a act or sales pitch either, I can always see through that BS. She was awesome.
I'm really looking forward to a second chance at Davita. It sounds like from everyone I talked to that they have their stuff together and actually care about their patients. Not once have I been blown off. So far they are light years better than MGH. I feel somewhat human again
I Hate Dialysis Message Board
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