1st Time Traveling...

Well I finally decided I wouldn't let Dialysis control my life to the point I would not travel. My mom, 2 younger brothers and niece all live 7 or so hours away just outside Pittsburgh PA. I live on Long Island. I've always gone to visit on a Friday and come home on Sunday in time for Dialysis on Monday. Trying to cram a visit as short and as far away as that did me in every time. It would take me a good week to bounce back from the trip. So a few months ago I filled out the "Travel Paper Work" at my Dialysis Unit so that I could have time to prepare and get it all set up. The week came for me to head to PA to visit. I only had to go to Dialysis twice the week I was there since I was leaving on a Saturday and coming home on a Thursday. I must say the visit there and doing Dialysis there wasn't all that bad. My main worry was how well the Nurses/Techs would do putting the needles in my arm access. My Fistula is very shallow and superficial. And at times can be tough to cannulate even for my Units Nurses & Techs.

The Unit in PA I visited was a Davia Unit. The nurses and techs there were awesome! Only ran into one problem there. I had an allergic reaction both times to either the Filters they use or the Dialsate, not sure what caused the bad reaction just yet. The first day this happened it was more or less the first 30 minutes after getting on the machine. I wasn't sure what it was so I just tried my best to deal with it. Towards about the last hour I just counldnt take it anymore I got off early. That afternoon I called my Home Unit and talked with one of the nurses. She informed me that it could be an allergic reaction to the filter or fluids they use there, to have them prime the machine twice before putting me on and to ask them for Benedryl or buy some. The following Dialysis day I told them what my Unit had told me, so they primed the machine and gave me 50mg of Benedryl which helped but I still had the same reaction. Lips turned blue, couldn't breath very well, which they ended up giving me oxygen and I ended up getting off early again..

Sucked that this all happened my first time doing Dialysis away from home but I am glad that it did at least now I know what not to use/do. From now on when I travel my Unit will let me bring my own filter and we are going to put down that I have an Allergy to certain Dialysate and filters.