Speeding Up Setup

[russ9320]

The way I do is hang my bags first and while the one is warming I set up cartridge and start priming. While priming I take out supplies and wait for the alarm test. While at 23 I get my vitals. Snap and tap twice aooround the blood lines. Stop the machine hook up the waste, dialysate, and saline. Then I use gravity to snap and tap the saline line. Cannulate then done. Set up takes maybe 45 mins. I run for 3 hrs because of 30L of dialysate.

[obsidianom]

Why are you using bags instead of pureflow?

[russ9320]

Because I am looking to move and the bathroom is across the hall. Easier for me to use bags.

[Speedy1wrc]

I do not have a warm area of the house. I do use a heating pad to warm my saline and even the cartridge itself. That said, I have been working on improvements to  he prime routine to help keep air from getting into the saline. I am waiting for another patient to verify my results before publishing my results. I also am waiting for another cycler as the dialysate stepper motor in mine is getting very noisy and it is having issues.

One of the best schemes is to let it run for a long time, which some of you are saying you do. This works, but going back tot he first post of this thread, you get to the point of taking 4-6 hours for treatment. I do 5 days and would actually like to work and then still have some free time. Today I started at 7am and I was completely done and finished just before noon. That's a big chunk of time.

Oh, I use a kitchen cart from Big Lot's. If anyone is interested I can find the model number. It is the perfect size to hold all my supplies and it's on wheels so I can roll it right up to the machine. It's as if it was designed for it. It has a spot for cartridges and bottles and even my manuals. The longest part of set up is waiting for air.

As for air bubbles themselves, you best make sure there aren't any. The nurses generally talk about them in a context of emboli, however that's only half of it. Micro-bubbles cause tissue damage as they burst. A small jet of gas implodes and dimples the tissue behind the bubble. Long term this can cause many issues, vascular, pulmonary and cerebral. I don't know why cyclers don't have de-gassers on them. Actually we all know why...

[Maggie and Jeff]

The only time we had a real issue with air was when we had some bad cartridges.  They leaked air around the horizontal circle part of the saline spike.  As if they had not been glued there.  With the machine off they leaked saline.  That was a few years ago. 

2:08 NxStage time 3:30 - 4:00 real time this will be our 9th year with NxStage.

We do the 4am thing to get off by 8 - 8:30 am. Eat then ride the tandem bicycle about and hour then go to work (Making pottery) at 10am till 5pm have dinner and hang out till around 8pm and then off to bed.  4am gets old sometimes and is almost impossible during the winter for us so during the winter it's 7am minus the bicycle and the pottery work cause it's to cold.  Next week 5am start time and by the fools day 4am again.  How exciting.

[Speedy1wrc]

I had a bad run of cartridges a couple months ago, but yes, knock on wood the latest lot's have been ok.  We usually know in advance if there's bad stuff out there. One of us locally will inform our nurse and she spreads the word. We watch each other's back in a round about sort of way.