Laptop at dialysis???

[donnia]

Does anyone else take their laptop to dialysis?  I got one for xmas and love it.  I take it to dialysis and they have a wireless router so I can get online.  My sessions fly by!!!  If you have a laptop you might want to give it a try. 

[cambonesegirl]

Oooo I would love to be online while I was at dialysis, but I sleep most of my treatment. I go five in the morning!

[donnia]

I have tried my hardest, I can't sleep at dialysis.  So now my laptop makes it bearable

[joezee]

I totally agree- it makes the time FLY by. My first clinic didn't have Internet access so I purchased a cellphone card and connection. It wasn't cheap and it wasn't fast, but it worked and was worth every penny. Some clinics have wireless access, which is great, or in some cases you might be able to get online if there's wireless access nearby. Yes there might be security concerns, but in my case I've been lucky so far. I was concerned about being able to type when my fistula matured and I was no longer on a chest catheter, but I'm lucky again because my fistula is in my upper arm. I'm sure others find a way even with lower arm accesses. I'm not a reader (except online) and even hunting and pecking with one hand is better for me than watching TV. If you're thinking about buying a laptop consider one with battery life longer than 3 hours- it's worth the additional cost.

[bolta72]

Ya, thats what I have to do, my battery life is only about 2 hrs.

[George Jung]

I am on it right not.  I use an air card from Sprint (about $50 a month) and when I over run my battery I just plug in.  Would not make it through my treatments w/o it.

[MattyBoy100]

I take mine in too.  My unit has access points for tv and internet so I can do both on my laptop at the same time.  Unfortunately not all the internet access points are switched on but I am working to get that changed.  I am the only person who takes in a laptop as most patients are quite elderly and not familiar with the technology.  There are even 2 PC's in the waiting room for patient use but no one uses them.

It's a shame to see all this investment in facilities and nobody using them.

[Bajanne]

I take mine in too.  My unit has access points for tv and internet so I can do both on my laptop at the same time.  Unfortunately not all the internet access points are switched on but I am working to get that changed.  I am the only person who takes in a laptop as most patients are quite elderly and not familiar with the technology.  There are even 2 PC's in the waiting room for patient use but no one uses them.

It's a shame to see all this investment in facilities and nobody using them.

Wow, I wish my unit were like that.   For some reason, signals are difficult to get in my unit.  You have to in one of three chairs to even be able to use your cellphone.  I will be taking my daughter's laptop to dialysis with me today, but i will probably take some dvd's to watch.

[RichardMEL]

I take my laptop in too and they don't mind if I plug it into the wall behind the chair. While there is wireless it's the hospital network and they (understandably!) won't give me a password to get in.. but that's ok.. I download tv shows and whatnot I want to catch up on (Journeyman for example I am catching up on, and I enjoyed Chuck, Pushing Daisies etc which haven't aired here yet) and watch them with my headphones on. I only do it once a week (Thursday's the video day ) because a) it's a bit of a pain to carry the laptop and charger around and b) I like to have something to look forward to So yeah it works really well and I enjoy it. Sometimes the nurses watch with me when they are near my machine he he. note to self: no porn

[donnia]

LOL....  we have an 18 year old guy at dialysis and he is always telling the nurses and techs that he is downloading porn

[goofynina]

When i was in-center, my access was always so sensitive, i couldn't move without it setting off an alarm so needless to say, i slept (or tried to sleep) as much as i could while i was there.   I did take in my portable dvd player but after getting my benadryl, i was out before the movie even started, lol,   

[Bajanne]

I did take the laptop to my session.  I took dvd's but only put in one (notice I did not say, watched one).  I watched it and it watched me for the most of my session.  It ended when I had 30 mins to go.  I then played Monopoly Here and Now until it was time for me to leave.  It really filled up my time very nicely and I think i will take it with me as much as I can.
the signal that i got was extremely week and i couldn't even get the browser website to come up.  don't know if I get to use another chair, if I will get a better signal (as per the cellphone)

[RichardMEL]

I wouldn't want to be watching anything risque anyway... I mean we have a lot of older patients here... I think if some of the old blokes they sit around me even saw a naked breast or something they might faint (or have a blood pressure problem! :-) )

[MattyBoy100]

A guy at my unit used to bring in his portable DVD player.  The boss of the unit had to politely tell him that it was inappropriate to watch "Chicks With Dicks" whilst on dialysis!


By the way, I have to plug my laptop into an ethernet connection for internet access.  They won't give me the password to their network to go wireless either.