I'm Here. Don't know where this post should go but I'll start here.

[dwcrawford]

Hello my IHD friends,

I had the fistala and a cath put in on Monday at Methodist Hospital, Houston.  The doctors said it was easy and looks good.   It was easy for me since I was knocked out (my choice).  I spent Mon., Tues., and Wed. in the hospital.  Monday night I had two hours of hemo dialysis followed by three on Tuesday and four on Wednesday.  I was supposed to stay until yesterday to start the regular D session but I got into a center immediately.  Actually I made a couple of personal calls.  Hint to all:  You don’t have to be important to get things done.  You just need to act like you are.

Yesterday I went to the dialysis center.  It is Davita Med Center.  I went through an orientation and then had four hours of D from 4 PM till 8 PM.  I am no longer a virgin.  Well, I’m no longer a dialysis virgin.

Two hours on Tuesday and four hours last night we fine.  But the other two gave me headaches and made me really dizzy.  My blood pressures and sugars have been all over the place.  Doctors say it will level out and maybe we’ll adjust some of the BP meds.  I’m sure the sugar problem is that they wouldn’t do what I told them to but rather what the numbers said to do.  Some of the nurses wouldn’t listen to me.

I’m home and bringing in the proper foods, etc. for forever.  It feels good to just be here even though the place is one huge mess.  The hospital was pretty fabulous.  I recommend it to you.  Some of you may no that this hospital was ranked number one for several years in renal treatments, transplants, etc.  Not only that, it is recently redecorated.  I’ve been in for outpatients things a couple of times but this was the first time I’d had time to look around at the atriums, lobby and artwork.  I DID not get the room I had asked for that Barbara Bush had recently vacated.  It’s ok though.   I suppose it was because I’m not a republican.

Probably the most fun part was meeting the International staff.  There were doctors, nurses, techs and administrative staff from all over the world.  Most spent time talking to me and telling about the home and why they were here.  Many came to Houston for the express purpose of working at Methodist.

I told everyone about IHD.  Some said they would look.  Others just laughed or sighed.  I did explain that IHD got me to this point.  Otherwise I might not be here much longer.  I missed you guys.  I signed on a couple of times since I got home but didn’t feel like posting.  I was mainly looking for information.

OK, I’m back.  At least you all had a little relief.  Why was I so upset about my “spelling” error?  Probably because I was head for all of this the next day, but I’m over it and will try not to be so sensitive about such silly things.  I did promise to take a typing lesson, but that is way too much trouble.

This point of this note is “Thank you” for all the support and the good wishes and let you know how much I appreciated everything.
Sorry this is so long…. Dan





EDITED: Moved to Dialysis: General Discussion - okarol/admin

[jbeany]

 

Glad to see you back!  Don't forget to borrow Kitkat's big stick when you need it to make the nurses listen to you and get them to do the treatment the way you want it done!

I had to go off all my blood pressure meds after I started dialysis, too.  The docs will want to step them down gradually, so you'll be fighting the dizzy spells for a bit longer.  Hang in there!

[RichardMEL]

Awesome post Dan - why be sorry for being long??  it's all good!

The main thing is you're over the really big "hump" of actually starting... I think yes, hopefully you will stablise soon specially when the dry weight can be figured our correctly (ANY time you feel faint/dizzy TELL THE STAFF!!) it's an indication too much fluid has come off.. it's OK to move up and down the Dry Weight while you're trying to figure it out.

You will be fine I think! Great that you are home and well.. welcome to the wonderful world of in center hemo!

[Zach]

Welcome back!
 

[twirl]

I missed you too and I like the pm's -
I like the Methodist Hospital -
did you lose your dialysis virginity in the chair -
if so, please fill us in -- we have a section on --- Sex while on dialysis -
please share all the details --
we like naughty stories -
so glad you are home -
dialysis and me = a messier home
home never feels better than after a visit to the hospital -
do you like to cook
go to Davita- recipes and you will have some recipes that are almost good
-- just add salt ---- ( not really )
order your margarita's with no salt on the glass --
or whatever the drink is with salt on the rim -
good luck to you and welcome to
-The World According to Dialysis -

[willowtreewren]

Welcome, welcome back, Dan! 

Now that you are no longer a D virgin, you can start filling in your own positives about dialysis! 

It is so good to have your voice in the forums again. IHD has gotten me over some big humps, too. It's great to have this community (and you as a part of it).

Be sure to make your needs known during dialysis. Nobody knows your body better than you! Ya just gotta make them listen. When my husband was in center they were always pulling too much fluid off. When he had to go back in last week I told him to insist that they not do that, but he just let them make the decisions and of course he was dizzy and nauseated! DUH! 

Keep us informed of your progress. Your IHD family wants to know.

Aleta

[MandaMe1986]

Danny Boy your back!    I am happy to see you had a pretty good time. We did all miss you.  But don't ever feel sorry for not getting on and posting.  We just all wanted to know how you were doing. 

Oh and I tried some Blue Bell ice cream in your horner on Monday.. Very good stuff....*smiile*

Glad to see you back..

[willieandwinnie]

  Dan, what a wonderful post. We are so glad that you are back and doing well. Keep us posted on your progress. 

[dwcrawford]

I saw the old threads on recipes (some good ones) and diet questions.  But I"m going to need to ask a lot more.  I've been on diabetic diets for a long time but this is totally different and far more complicated.  I'm going to be telling you guys what  I like to eat and you have to tell me how  to fix  it.   Deal?

did you lose your dialysis virginity in the chair -
if so, please fill us in -- we have a section on --- Sex while on dialysis -
please share all the details --
we like naughty stories -

Surely there is some information I'm not required to share....

[dwcrawford]

Mandy, the hospital served Blue Bell Vanilla.  The problem was that it was 4 oz. serving.  Not worth haing to go brush your teeth.

[twirl]

well, we will not tell anyone 
and we may have some "stories" of our own 

[MandaMe1986]

Twirl are you having sex in your chair again?  You know what the doctors said about that. 

[okarol]

I am glad to see you here Dan. Sounds like you got good care, which is always encouraging.
I hope they get your dry weight stable - sugars too - it's a balancing act - but over time it will get better. Jenna was off BP meds right after dialysis started because she didn't need them anymore - was going too low.
Good luck to you!

[dwcrawford]

today my bps are way too low.  don't know what to do.  he's going to adjust meds next week but today is Saturday and I don't want to go to emergency.  Anybody have ideas??

[Tinah1968]

  I'm so glad your back and that you were well taken care of. Houston has a great Hospital system in Methodist and Memorial. as far as diets I know i saw a post from okarol I think on facebook to see about coming up with some recipes to post. I like the idea so we can all learn from eachother.

[okarol]

today my bps are way too low.  don't know what to do.  he's going to adjust meds next week but today is Saturday and I don't want to go to emergency.  Anybody have ideas??

Are you taking BP meds?
Be careful about getting too dehydrated - depending on how much fluid they are taking off. If you're still urinating they may remove too much fluid by default.

[dwcrawford]

I am still taking (as of today) my bp meds.  If I make it through today I think I will skip them until I see the doctor on Monday.  My internist turned BP over to the neph so at least  I  know where to go for into.

Someone said to drink chicken broth... I had beef broth so.....  It brought BP up from 70/43 to 81/49... I'll keep testing. 

[dwcrawford]

Only 4 pounds on a NY trip?  I could gain 4 pounds on cheesecake alone.

[petey]

dw --
You have NO idea how happy I am to see you here again posting!  I just caught the "tail end" of that thread with the spelling error thing, and I knew from your words that you were hurt.  Hey, I've had my feelings hurt here, too (I am very sensitive a lot of the time, and then other times I simply don't give a rip!).  Anyway, I hated to think of you going into last week with all the things you were going to have to endure with a hurt soul, too.  I worried about you, thought of you, and even prayed for you.  I realize the admins' desire for a neat, grammatically correct forum, so I'm not slamming that with my next statement, but, here goes...I've been teaching high school English for 21 years to some of the worst spellers on the face of this earth.  I can decipher even the worst spelling (and worst handwriting, too), so your posts didn't bother me.  (If you want, you can send me a PM with your "true" spelling and I will be able to read it and understand your thoughts  -- I won't even tell the big dogs here      ).

I'm not glad that you're no longer a dialysis virgin, but I am glad that you've made the transition rather smoothly into the brotherhood/sisterhood of some of the finest people anywhere around (I love dialysis folks, and they have a special place in my heart).  All things considered, it sounds like you've had a relatively "easy" first week on dialysis (I've heard and seen stories of others who had it much, much rougher), so hang in there!  On May 28 of this year, my husband Marvin will have his 2,000th dialysis treatment (yes, we've been counting).  It never gets "easy," but, with Marvin at least, it does get easier to endure the longer you do it.  Keep a good attitude.  Know and watch your body.  DEMAND that your input into dry weight, bp, meds, etc. be heard and considered.  (That low bp may be too much fluid removal -- dehydration, so watch that.  And, it may be that you don't need the bp meds anymore -- ask, experiment if you have to on your own.)

I'm glad you're back and okay.  Man, I've missed you.

[kristina]

Welcome back!

[G-Ma]

Welcome back, missed you...I hate to be one of just a few rabble rousers...need more around...don't worry about spelling....I had a 1000 person Call Center Director send an email to all one time that had 10 very mis spelled words...could never top his number.

Also, post all you want...I'm sure someone will tell you if you talk to much and really I've never seen that happen.

Perhaps you could help Bob write the Dialysis for Dummies book and have a section about sex in the dialysis chair....

Actual funny...at the ND center I went to they had curtains around all the chairs and when they changed my chest cath they pulled the curtain so as soon as the nurse had her hands busy I would start moaning, mooooaaaaaannnnnnggggg....oh gaaawwwwddd and they would laugh or fuss and then when they pulled the curtain back I would say thanks so much for the foot rub...and you know several other patients started wanting foot rubs...it works.....but never got one.

[kitkatz]

Well nice to our flirting trouble maker is back after having his dialysis virginity taken by some nurses and docs.

[RichardMEL]

Dan are you taking yur bp meds on the days you are doing dialysis? Down here we are instructed to NOT take  bp meds on the dialysis days - since the dialysis process lowers your BP enough - so that may be an issue too - you should chat to the docs about that. I was actually taken off my bp meds totally about 18 months ago because my BP stayed in the normal/low range so that was cool.

Hang in there!

[aharris2]

I am still taking (as of today) my bp meds.  If I make it through today I think I will skip them until I see the doctor on Monday.  My internist turned BP over to the neph so at least  I  know where to go for into.

Someone said to drink chicken broth... I had beef broth so.....  It brought BP up from 70/43 to 81/49... I'll keep testing.

How ya doing DW? Is your bp recovering at all?

You apparently dialyzed Friday evening and will dialyze again Monday evening? And you will be seeing or talking to your neph on Monday. Without telling you not to take BP meds, haven't there been times when you haven't taken them because you were ill, nauseous, forgot, fell asleep,or whatever? You are monitoring your blood pressure so you would see if your blood pressure began to creep up and you needed to take them. (Be careful if you take clonidine, though. Reduce it, don't quit taking it abruptly.)

If Rolando's bp was as low as yours, we would delay taking bp meds until it had recovered.

[dwcrawford]

I was told not to take bp meds on day of surgery, but don't know what they gave me while in hospital.  The nurse said to go back to normal routine when I got home.  The doctor told me nothing (or if he did I forgot).  It back up to something near normal now since about 8 pm.  I went to sleep and it is 1 am now and I feel ok (sort of).  Wow, you guys were great.  Thanks.  Tell me everything. (yes Twirl, even the juicy stuff)