Next Stage Travel

[Vt Big Rig]

My nurse sent in travel orders to Next Stage on July 15th. We checked last week and were told everything was set up fine. My destination never got a call that it was coming so we checked again yesterday. Whoops,  delivery service says not coming to them till Friday and they can't deliver till Monday. That means I would miss two treatments.

Next Stage blames delivery service, they blame Next Stage. Nobody takes responsibility. Now they say they will UPS bags of dialysate but we need to bring everything else. Cartridges, lines, drains, etc.

Why make it harder? Moral of the story. Check, check, double check, and re check.

[Vt Big Rig]

Dragged the travel trailer 925 miles to see the new grandson. Tried treatment in trailer Sunday morning. Could not get access to work. Tries Sunday night still no go ..... Thought might be dehydrated a little from trip. Tried Monday AM. Got running but pressure awful and could only run SLOW. Ran for five hours but wound up with 21 alarms and clotted cartridge. Took a side trip. Tried Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Can't get access blood to flow.  Each time we tried three different "sticks". I am now officially a pin cushion.

So now I am scared ...basically one not-so-good treatment in 7 days. Called neph. Sent to emergency room to get labs done. (remember I am 925 miles away from home). Potassium good, only 4.7, other labs  also good. Luckily blessed wife is renal dietitian so she kept me on tight leash for the next few days to be careful on potassium. Long drive back and scheduled for fistulagram this morning.

So basically one not-so-good treatment in 11 days.

Sure hope this works.

Sure was nice to see grandkids though!!

[justagirl2325]

Glad you got to see your grand kids.

How fantastic is that - that your wife is a renal dietician.  I can't imagine my husband with one bad treatment over 11 days, he'd be pretty sick.  She did a good job keeping you healthy (and I can only assume you listen to advice better than my husband does lol).

[Simon Dog]

Your home clinic should have been able to locate a clinic local to your location and booked an emergency session for you.   Did you try this option?

[Vt Big Rig]

Your home clinic should have been able to locate a clinic local to your location and booked an emergency session for you.   Did you try this option?

We talked about that and after the lab results which amazingly were not much different than my pre dialysis days the neph asked me how I was feeling. I felt fine so it was decide to wait till I got home.

The fistulagram was, as usual, delayed several hours but there was a new surgeon who I like much better. He actually listened to us about the problem and since we were "going in" anyway he asked my wife to demonstrate what was happening. Sure enough happened again. So he believed and then verified on sonogram that there is a narrowing between aterial site and venus site. Making things worse, since the aterial needle is already in it slows the flow more. Therefore flow is so slow it clots the needle. He went in and ballooned it up quite a bit. Then tried again and it seemed to work fine.

With all those holes still did not dialize last night but will tonight. And I still feel pretty good. BP a little higher than usual, and real tired of these strict diet issues but we will run tonight.

And justagirl, you are 110% correct. She kept me off dialysis 2 years longer than the neph thought she could and now manages my labs fantastically. This was my 5th fistualagram since April 15. If we could just get my access straightened out things would be as good as could be.

[PrimeTimer]

Don't feel bad...my husband has had several angioplasties (ballooning) performed on his fistula, too. We've gotten use to it and over time, they are starting to last longer. They send us home with a stitch removal kit now (something I kind of already knew how to do). That way he doesn't have to take time out of his work day just to have one stitch removed, I do it for him. He uses the buttonhole method and over time, has perfected putting his needles in "down the center of the flow". If he goes off too far to one side or the other, the needles seem to start sucking against the inside of the wall of the fistula, creating high pressure alarms. Buttonholes aren't for everybody but he says he likes using buttonholes because you stick the same place each time and he can feel the moment that the needle goes in as to whether or not he went in at the wrong angle, so he's able to adjust it before we hook him up (usually). He also never goes over a 380 blood flow rate, which of course saves the life of his fistula but I also think the slower rate helps to avoid the needle from having too much "sucking power" against the wall of his fistula. Makes me think about when I vacuum the carpet and if I get too close to a sock on the floor and well, we all know what happens. So, he takes things nice and slow for a 3.50 treatment (3 hours, 31-36 minutes). Anyways, it will get better. They say the first year or so is the hardest and they are right!