Hate It ... and Love It!

GraphicBass

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Hate It ... and Love It!

« on: November 03, 2010, 06:20:29 PM »

Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia!

I joined the dialysis club, as of 10/22, with a sudden visit to the emergency room!

To back up a little, I've been diabetic for 30 years, having been first diagnosed when I was 25. Over the years, diabetes has slowly destroyed my kidneys, to the point, where after a few years of struggling to keep them functioning, they finally gave up and I gained 30 pounds of toxic fluid, necessitating the trip to the ER. From the time I arrived at 11 am, I progressed through a round of testing and consultations, then into the cath lab for the installation of a permacath, then straight up to the dialysis lab for my first session. Then over the next five days, four more sessions, taking off a total of 9 liters of fluid.

I just finished my first week of in-center dialysis at the local FMC.

My nephrologist and I knew it was coming, but I think that even she was startled by how suddenly it all happened.

However, I really can't say that it's been a bad thing.

Since the very first session, I've felt 1000% better. And gotten better each session with very few side effects of the dialysis. In addition, it's helped reduce the stress on my heart, which helps with my congestive heart failure. And I've been able to get off daytime oxygen use (still use it at night with the CPAP) and stop dragging the darned O2 tank around. I had not realized just how bad I've felt for the last two years, and was getting worse each day. My wife was terribly afraid that I would come to the point where I felt so bad that I would just give up. And I was afraid of that as well, which is why I finally agreed to go to the ER and go through with the preparatory procedures.

Now, just a short time after starting dialysis, I feel energetic and positive about life again. I know that I have several terrible, chronic conditions, any of which will eventually (or suddenly) kill me off once and for all, but in the meantime, I can live a meaningful life and accomplish more of what I want to do. Whereas, just two weeks ago, I could not.

As to what I still need to do, there's a long list:

I need to be around to be with my wife of 30 years as we continue an adventure we began and that I promised to complete.
I need to see my 22 year old daughter graduate with her degree in Video Game Design and get her career started.
I need to continue working at my job, which is partner/creative director/co-owner of a publishing firm with my wife for more than ten years.
I need to launch the new publishing projects we've been working on for a full year and get it marketed.
I need to take the cruise we booked to the Bahamas (we leave next week!) with my wife's two sisters and their husbands, and now feel well enough to enjoy it.
I need to get back into a swing band and play the bass guitar again, something I had to give up this past spring (after 36 years of playing) because I felt so bad.
I need to do the things I haven't thought about yet, but will, now that I have time at dialysis three times a week to think about and plan such things (and catch up on my reading!), and the energy to actually work on them.

So, for me, dialysis has been something to hate, in that it does put some limitations on my life and my family's life. But, I don't hate it as well, because the benefits I get are worth every bit of the effort.

While researching the details of dialysis, I ran across this forum and immediately applied for membership and bookmarked it in three browsers! It's already been a tremendously valuable resource. I look forward to learning more, and hopefully contributing a bit or two.

Sorry for the long post. Apparently, I had a lot to say!

Later...

GraphicBass (gary)


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boswife

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us and fam easter 2013