Today was the first day of training and my first time doing dialysis. I am afraid to jinx myself, but everything went well. My nurse, Denise, was wonderful and had the machine set up for me. We went through the steps of getting hooked up and what supplies to have ready (tape, gauze etc.). She taught me how to listen to my fistula with a stethoscope. We started using 17 gauge needles which she inserted with no problem and no Emla cream, and they didn't really hurt at all. We drew labs and she explained all of the things I would need to do for that. She went through the settings on the cycler and we filled out the log sheets every 30 minutes as required. I do have a slight narrowing in my fistula that was causing a higher venous pressure than she wanted, so I may be headed to the access center, but arterial pressure was good. I was 1kg under the dry weight my doc prescribed, so we didn't remove any fluid. That number will probably be adjusted slowly as my treatment continues. My only complaint is I was freezing for most of the time and I did get a headache. BP and pulse were good and I didn't have any arm pain during the run. I am hoping that venous pressure comes down tomorrow, because I really dislike going to the access center, but all in all it was a successful first day. I brought home some manuals to read over tonight and will probably get to bed early. I am not used to getting up so early lol! Tomorrow we are going to go through the whole set up process. Fingers crossed it goes as well as today!
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