Help, need info before i decide my options

[jennyc]

Hi,

For those who knkow me you'll be aware that i've just had my first fistula put in a few weeks ago and that i'm preparing to do Home Hemo (cause my pd is failing). My neph is hoping to start me training in december. I'm seriously looking at buttonholes becuase i have small veins and i'm not sure how big my fistula is going to get, I'm doing my exercises and i can feel it getting larger (so its a good sign i think).

Now i'm trying to decide wether or not to head straight for nocturnal or to try day time to start with. I have to start planning to get the plumbing organised in my home. If i go day time it will be set up in the home office so that i can work whilst i dialyse (i work from home) and obviously if nocturnal it'll be in my bedroom.

I have a few questions if anyone will please help me.
How easy/hard did people find it to sleep on nocturnal? (i will be on the Fresinius machine provided by govt, not the one with the computer screen, i don't think)

What frequency do people do their treatments at? (i can choose my treatment plan, so long as i do the minimum) (i dont have much function. GFR = 4ml/min1.73m2) (i'm currenlty looking at 2nd daily or 5x weekly at 7 hours, npot sure yet)

Do you think it will be too overwhelming to head straight into nocturnal dialysis when i'm still learning how to dialyse myself?

What questions should i be armed with when i start training?

Is there anything you can suggest i know or comment on before i start training?

Thanks

[RichardMEL]

Jenny the decision may be taken from you (unless you've been given these options by your neph/dialysis unit). Down here our home hemo trainers make folks do their sessions daytime - at least initially - so that the unit staff are online(by phone) if need be. I am not sure what the timeframe is until they let you go do your own thing. Although come to think of it Lucinda who is also in Sydney pretty much went straight to doing her sessions at night so maybe things are different up in sin city

If it was *me* I'd do sessions during the day initially because of that exact reason - being able to call on the unit staff if there was a problem. After a few months I'd want to move to nightly nocturnal once I was confident with doing it without issue. That's just me though.

Re buttonholes - yes - great idea! I say go with them!

[jennyc]

Thanks Richard,

Didn't think of that (nurses being on call at first) yeh, might be a good idea. I'll have to check with the trainer. Only problem is i have to decide which room to put it in, if i'm doing daily i don't want to be stuck in the bedroom all day without acess to my paperwork and computer, also i'll have to get foxtel hooked up in the rear room!!!!  No way i'm going to be hooked upto a machine for so long without the option of cable tv... Hubs can just forkout for it (I don't think he'd begrudge me). And if it is in office i have to start throwing stuff out and reorganising the room as its a shambles

Cheers Jen

[Rerun]

I don't think you would sleep AT ALL being new to hemo and all the alarms and what they mean.  Do daytime and when you start feeling comfortable on daytime you will start falling asleep and that will be a queue that Nocturnal would be goo.  Nocturnal is usually 8 hours.

                                                   

[Maker]

Hey Jen!

That's a great idea to put it in your office so you can get work done, I hadn't even thought of that as an option.  I work out of my home too so I will remember that if I ever get to do home hemo.  I will be very interested to hear how it goes for you, so please keep us posted 

[jennyc]

Thanks Guys. The alarms are worring.

Does anyone do short daily hemo? if so how do you feel compared to 5x weekly and how does your fistula hold up?