Did a Bit of Traveling Today

I traveled thousands of miles, yet only went across town. My travels were vicarious! Donna and I planned last week to meet at her house for our weekly "library" meeting today. She and John traveled to the Holy Land back at the first of the year..."just" prior to the Covid outbreak. And, when I say "just" I mean right at the start of the realization that Covid was going to spread and countries were deciding what to do to protect them selves. They had to make a hurried trip to Bethlehem a little out of order in their tour as Bethlehem was going to close due to Covid. They were probably the last tour group to get into the sights in that area. They got their whole trip in and got back safely. Donna has used her "safer-at-home" time getting her photos in order. She did a great job of notating all the places that they went. Today I got to look through her albums that she has created. And, I do feel a bit like I have been there! A great visit! She makes good chocolate zucchini muffins, too! I got home and Woody had even started getting his lunch ready...I got there in time to carry his plate to his TV tray! Once I was assured that he had his lunch, I headed off to WalMart as there were several items that we needed. Since I was going there, I decided that I would get the one item that I needed to make chili...the hamburger! I don't usually buy meat at WalMart but since I was there and I still try to limit my store hopping, I went on and did one-stop shopping. Picked up a couple of other things that have been hard to find at Kroger. So I guess I can say that my grocery shopping for this week has been started. Once I came back, I got busy on making chili for tonight's supper. Woody enjoyed the chili...he had been wanting "real" chili for some time now...we had been supposed to stay away from red meat and beans when we were on his diet to keep him off dialysis...now he can once again have it...especially since he is supposed to be eating high protein. So tonight he got meat and beans. He enjoyed it so much that while I was upstairs he actually made it out to the kitchen for seconds...even attached to his dialysis machine! Guess he really liked it! Tonight he is in his second dwell time already...so "things" are going along. Last night he said that things seemed to slow down after the second cycle. But he still finished in twelve hours or a little less. He stayed connected till I came downstairs around 7am even though he finished several hours earlier. He says that he isn't going anywhere anyway! I still hate to leave him connected any longer than he has to be. But if I am asleep and he doesnt awaken me I guess he will wait till I wake up! We are both sort of in the mode of "sleep when we can." I think that I am getting better sleep than he is. I will say that after all my galavanting today and then cooking and then getting today's dialysis set up and Woody connected without taking much of a rest, I was quite tired after I ate supper. I sat down in my recliner to rest a little and the next thing I knew I was waking up. So like I say...sleep when we can. And, since we can sleep whenever I guess that should work! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! (It is strange typing on a real keyboard after typing the blog and most other things on my iPad...having to get all my fingers working when I type on the laptop...and, have to remember where symbols and punctuation is located!Having to look at the keyboard a little more than I used to...but haven't totally forgotten how to touch type! I learned to touch type when I worked in my father's law office during the summers when I was in high school. I answered the phones and was sort of receptionist. I got a "how-to-type" course and learned in between clients and phone calls. I never wanted to take typing in school...the timed tests would have made me too nervous! But I learned to type fairly fast and with decent accuracy so that little foray in a law office benefited in probably more ways than one!)

Rolling Right Along

Woody is well underway with tonight's dialysis treatment. The last couple of days have picked up a little "speed" during the 4 drain times. Last night each of the four cycles took three hours or less and he finished in under 12 hours...shortest time so far...I think. We wonder if perhaps his body is starting to respond to the peritoneal dialysis and getting used to the new use of that part of his abdomen for the purpose of dialysis. I happened to be awake when I thought that it might be finishing early this morning and went down to check. It was almost finished and we decided if I was still awake that I would go on and get him disconnected...then I could go back to sleep if I felt like it. This was before 4 and we had breakfast before I headed back upstairs. I did go back to sleep for a while as did Woody. He has had sort of a dozy day off and on. When I woke up, I was ready to head on with my day. Today I decided to experiment with a new sourdough recipe...sourdough dinner rolls. The recipe is a keeper. Woody ate breakfast, but for the rest of the day he has been back in his mode of food not interesting him very much. He has eaten, but probably not gotten the protein that he should. Maybe tomorrow? I continued on going through some papers that had stacked up and did some "file thirteening" this afternoon. Today is a good day to pitch things as tomorrow is garbage day. I also decided to complete my fabric order so I am committing to doing some sewing once again. New fabric inspires...at least it is inspiration for me! Lately I have been sticking to my stash and haven't bought any new fabric. I never had a stash until all the fabric stores in town closed. When they started closing, I bought so I wouldn't be totally out at any point. I have been working on the stash that I accumulated and it was just time to add a little new to the mix! It used to be that I chose a pattern I wanted to make, chose fabric and notions needed for that project, sewed that project, and didn't buy fabric till I was finished with the project. Those days have gone now that I have to depend a lot on the internet to purchase fabric. I have to go on instinct when purchasing online...will coordinates match, etc. Most of the time my purchases have worked out. I can only think of one time that I bought some and it was totally different than what I expected...it had texture and I was expecting a very flat fabric...also expecting something that I could make a suit for a grandson...and it just wasn't for that purpose. It was suiting...but not for the type of little suit that I wanted to make. I believe that I still have that fabric hanging in my fabric closet...one day...maybe...or it will be another's treasure in a yardsale sometime down the road when my children get the fun of clearing out all my sewing stuff when I am no longer around to need it any longer!!!! Woody enjoyed watching a baseball game this afternoon...something to watch while he is hooked up for his dialysis. I guess tonight he will watch the debate. I may listen upstairs on my iPad...but then again, I may not! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Last Monday in September

I seem to have just floated through this day. Not sure what, if anything, was accomplished except for getting Woody's disconnected from his cycler dialysis machine this morning and then reconnecting him late this afternoon! I did make pancakes for breakfast, unloaded the dishwasher and put away the dishes and kept putting in dishes throughout the day when we used them. I did check out a fabric website pretty thoroughly looking at knits. As I am moving cold weather clothes into my closet, I am thinking that I could use a couple of new tops...just not sure if the energy is there to make them! I did find several pieces that I liked and coordinates for trims on them. They are sitting in "my cart." I will decide whether to order them or not...or they may just sit in the cart till the website empties the cart due to lack of activity! The website has sent me an email making sure that I know that I have left something in my cart! I am diligently working on getting former sewing messes and other things that have landed on my sewing cutting table cleaned up so I can make new sewing messes, if I am so inclined. I did put away fabric for a summery top and brought out some fabric to make some courduroy pants...maybe they will get made this year. I bought the corduroy close to the end of winter one time and just never got around to making them. At least this time I have the fabric out at the start of cool weather. Woody spent quite a while upstairs this morning...running off his daily crossword puzzles and then working on them. I'm sure that he also checked out the information about the St. Louis Cardinals making it into the playoffs! I have started a new book. It is about Abraham Lincoln's final trial before he became a presidential candidate. He represented someone charged with murder. For some reason I never really pictured Abraham Lincoln defending murder suspects. From what I have read so far, it seems that this wasn't the first time that he had been involved with a murder trial. We had a storm this afternoon that brought through a cold front. One moment it was in the upper 70s and the next it was in the upper 50s...a 20 degree drop just like that! I just checked on Woody. He is "dwelling" in the 2nd of four cycles. The dwell time is set for 1-1/2 hours in each of the four cycles. That is one of the parts of the cycles that is predictable...the fill doesn't take too long either. The drain is always the one that we never know how long it will take. But, for tonight, the first cycle took a little less than three hours...so that is good...a bit ahead of schedule...for the moment. Well, guess I will go down and load up the last of tonight's dishes and see if there are enough in the dishwasher to run it tonight. Then I may continue to organize sewing things. The top of the sewing table can mostly be seen now so I should be able to put my cutting board back on it. I use this table for all sorts of things...folding clothes...placing mail that I need to attend to...etc. It is just one of those surfaces that, as Woody says, if it is empty, I will put things on it! So at the moment am trying to reclaim it for sewing! I looked through patterns today so I could make decisions on yardage needed for the tops that I put in my internet fabric shopping cart. So I did some figment of my imagination shopping today...now to decide whether to turn time spent into reality! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Joseph is Soon to be Toothless!

I "borrowed" these photos from Kathy as she was there for "the" moment and captured the whole story...definitely in this instance pictures are worth a thousand words. This was the first time that Abigail had attempted to pull a little brother's tooth and by the looks of the second picture she was a bit surprised that it came out! I just laugh everytime that I see the look of surprise on her face!!! Joseph is in "tooth losing mode!" He has lost three teeth during the last week and has another that is soon to come out. When the two top and the two bottom our all out at the same time, I call them "toothless wonders!" Losing a tooth is quite an ordeal for little Joseph...I think that this time having his sister do it and seeing her reaction sort of lessened the fear of losing another tooth! All the tooth drama happened last night. We continue to be in dialysis routine...guess it is good that it is becoming routine since it is now a factor of life around here. Things do seem to have settled down with lots less alarms. There is a consistency of it taking about three hours per cycle. He was disconnected from the cycler machine sometime after 6 this morning, but he was finished a little after 5...so around 13 total hours. We got his machine going a little before 4:30 this afternoon. He slept some during the night and slept some more during the day. I, again, went upstairs after his second cycle was completed and I slept till a little after 5 this morning. I have sour dough bread rising and I made Apple Crisp...a good dessert for Fall! And, this time Woody could have ice cream on it...so he was a happy camper. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Three Months From Today...Say It Isn't So!

Today I got up and Woody was finished with his dialysis and I got him disconnected and did all the things that have to be done after disconnecting him...got everything recorded and we were ready to start our day! Woody headed upstairs to print off his daily crossword puzzles and to check out things on the computer...game scores, etc. I got breakfast ready and we had breakfast after he got downstairs. I got a load of wash into and then out of the dryer and got the put away...well, mostly...I still have a few to put away. I got busy and made another recipe of German Coleslaw...Woody still has some baked beans that he wanted to have slaw with. I got the dishwasher emptied and then put in the slaw dishes. While I was putting away clothes upstairs a friend called and we chatted for a while catching up with each other. While I was talking with her, another friend called and we managed to get connected after I finished my first conversation. So this morning was a time to catch up with friends. Woody and I both attempted naps this afternoon. I may have dozed a little but not for long. I'm not sure about Woody. I know he was reading when I came back downstairs. I came downstairs and did all the preliminary things that have to be done prior to connecting him to the dialysis machine and then managed to get him all connected and the machine running by 4:15...presently he is in the drain part of the first cycle...right on schedule for it to take about 3 hours per cycle. He's reading and watching/listening to the Friday evening news programs. After I got him hooked up, I got supper ready...hamburgers, baked beans, and slaw. He enjoyed his supper. It is so good to see him enjoying food once again. The kitchen is all cleaned up and I'm ready to read or do whatever I feel like this evening...guess I will put away the rest of the clothes first. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! (I'm glad to be back to blogging and posting pictures...I just wish that this format would allow paragraphs!) Tonight's photo is from a barn trip in March of 2019...before all this Covid mess! And, I can't believe that Christmas is three months from today! Where has the year gone?

Lazy Rainy Day

Looky there! I managed to post a photo once again! I felt like posting something fallish so went back in my photo archives and found this pumpkin that we grew several years ago...once again a volunteer that grew up out of our compost pile. We got to taste this year's volunteer the other day. Nathan brought each a slice of pumpkin bread that Kathy made from one of this year's pumpkins that Isaac and Joseph harvested a couple of weeks back. It was very good. Today has been one of those lazy rainy days when not much was accomplished except catching up on our sleep. Both of us have taken good naps. I am back to sleeping at night, but Woody is still interrupted a lot when he is trying to sleep. He had another good dialysis treatment last night...just took too long. But there are lots less alarms sounding which is a good thing. We still think part of the problem might be the cycler's fault. Woody is taking note of when the alarms sound and just about every night sometime when he gets to having a little over 200 ml drained there is always an alarm. Amyway, eventually the cycles finish and he can go about his day normally...just that all too soon it is time to connect him again. It has been nice hearing the rain on the roof today. We haven't had a lot of rain this month so good to hear the steady sound of rain on the roof. It has come close to raining all day. I did manage to get out to the mailbox and not get rained on. This evening will be just another quiet one in our household. Woody is in the midst of his treatment for tonight. When I was down there a few minutes ago the first drain was happening...when that is over the second cycle will begin. The cycle goes (1)fill, (2) dwell, (3) drain. The fill doesn't take very l long. The dwell is 1-1/2 hours. And, the drain time varies. It is usually 3 to 3-1/2 hours per cycle. At the end of the four cycles, he has the option to do STAT drains to get out more solution if the other drains stopped too soon. Our goal is to end on the positive side which is called ultra filtration. Before ultra filtration begins the solution is removing the solution and the poisons that our kidneys are supposed to remove when they work properly. With ultra filtration it is removing fluids that might have collected in the body due to the kidneys not working properly...supposed to keep down the swelling of ankles, etc. At this point Woody is doing well in that area...rarely see swelling. Before every treatment we have to record his blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and weight. And, we do the same at the end of each treatment minus the temperature. I have a log book that I keep the records in and I take them to our visit with the nurse once a month. Lots to do...sometimes my head spins...but it is getting more routine. I'm heading down to do a few dishes by hand and then plan to spend the evening reading. I had planned to work some in the sewing room today, but just never could find the energy...maybe tomorrow! I do have that feeling that I need to get back to creating something! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Oh, my! I May Be Back!

I haven't been able to blog from my laptop for many a year...and I was able to log in when I can't log in from my ipad any more. Technology has up and left me...but maybe I will be able to at least get a word in edgewise here! Now to bring you up to date on Woody's dialysis saga. We are still trying to figure out how to get the drain times of his 4 treatment cycles to go quicker. The nurse and Dr. O are checking into several possibilities. He got through last night's treatment with many fewer alarms and again tonight there are not as many alarms...at least so far. He continues to feel better which is a blessing. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from the Fresenius delivery man saying that if it was okay that he would deliver our order in about 30 minutes instead of this morning. Worked for me and I think helped him...perhaps he got to head back home sooner. He came all the way from Alabaster, AL to make today's TN deliveries. Anyway, we have new stacks of boxes. I had to go to a different wall since these bags of solution are dated and I need to use the closest date first. So now our living room looks even more like a warehouse! This morning Woody made his last visit to TN Oncology as all his medications and treatments will be handled by Fresenius now. After that he went to get his haircut...the first haircut (that he didn't do himself) since the pandemic started and we started sheltering at home. He said that it had begun to bother him and he was glad to get it cut. He does look less scruffy! While he was away I attacked th family room with the vacuum cleaner. It's hard to clean in there when he is in his chair most of the day. So it got a good vacuuming as did the bathroom and the sunporch and laundry room...my accomplishment of the day. I won't make this long in case it doesnt work. I work on getting a photo posted next time. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! (Good to be back...if I am!)

Woody is a couple of hours into his dialysis treatment for tonight...looks like another night of testing his/our patience! He is on the first drain of tonight's four cycles and already alarms are going off due to slow draining. I have checked and to my knowledge there are no kinks. Woody did manage to get in some sleep during the night, as did I. He managed a short nap or two during the day too. I got busy in the kitchen and made one of Woody's requests = lasagna. I hadn't made that recipe in many years. We each had a square for lunch...pretty yummy! It is so good to have Woody's appetite back. I made a quick trip to the grocery store as a new bread recipe called for seminola flour. I looked it up at Publix and it said that they had it and I needed a couple of other things that I can find only thee...well, no seminola flour to be found nor the other item I needed. I did find the extra fine egg noodles that's like for chicken noodle soup and I picked up some milk. But Publix didn't come through for me! Out of the three items that they supposedly carry, I only found one. The flour wasn't crucial for the bread that I made, I substituted something else. The bread was another new sour dough recipe. It wasn't the most successful of ones that I have tried. It is edible..but not sure that I will use that recipe again. Yesterday's sour dough pizza crust was a keeper. I made Chicken Alfredo pizza for our supper last night...quite tasty! I still have a mess to clean up in the kitchen...seems like I just keep having messes in there to clean up! I just filled up the dishwasher and will run it when I go back into the kitchen and will sometime this evening wash the rest by hand. Tomorrow is our next visit to the Fresenius clinic...just a check in with a nurse. Wednesday is our next dialysis supply delivery. I got the call today to say that they would be here between 8am and noon. Oh, boy...more boxes! Not as large a delivery this time...thank goodness! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

P.S. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

We found out that a little kink may not have been the cause of slow drains...anyway...we had an even longer night last night. This morning when I mentioned a shower to Woody, he said that he didn't have time as it was almost time to hook back up! We don't know whether it is Woody or the machine that is slowing drain times down. For now, till we go to the clinic again, we will put up with slow. I considered doing manual dialysis, but then realized that they didn't give me the inset for the organizer that is needed for a manual exchange. We have another appointment with the nurse Tuesday morning, we can persevere till then! The dialysis treatment is happening that is what is important. I took a nap this afternoon soi am refreshed and will catch a few z's in the middle of cycles tonight. I did the grocery shopping this morning...another reason for the need of a nap! He is all hooked up and is already at the drain time of the first cycle. And, it is starting to be obvious that the dialysis is beginning to work and make him feel better. He actually showed interest in what I put on the grocery list and made several requests for meals...and, seems to be looking forward to them. I don't do much cooing on grocery shopping day, but wil get busy on a recipe or two in the next day or so. Good to see him enjoy food again...that makes him seem more "like Woody" to me! And, I can, once again, enjoy cooking for him. His energy level has definitely come up. He's not feeling lightheaded any more so the effort of moving from one place to another is mainly a problem due to his leg problems not his weakened condition due to needing dialysis. His color is better and he doesn't look as thin...he has put a little weight back on...and, it isn't water weight...at least if it is, it isn't showing in his ankles like it did at one time. So I think we are on the right path...just at the moment are on the s l o w road!

LIVE AND LEARN! Last night was an interesting experience that I hope we don't repeat too often! It was a long night. The whole dialysis treatment was s l o w! The way it was going was like our first night when the cassette malfunctioned. Woodsy didn't want to give up on it since it was working...sort of! So we waited it out. I kept straightening out tubing...anything to make "things" go faster. When we decided to end the treatment we found the tiniest kink up high on the tubing...it had twisted right under a blue connector close to the top of the line...where it kinked wasn't very noticeable...so it went unnoticed for a l o n g time! We did a few STAT drains after we discovered it and got the rest of the solution out! We will look closer from now on. I think that we might have found it sooner if we hadn't had that one malfunction and this acted jut like it. Oh, well...live and learn! Woody's treatment has begun for tonight. Hoping and praying that it will go MUCH better tonight. We will definitely be watching for small kinks in the tubing!!!

I'm sad...couldn't find the link so I could use the legacy format for blogger...so back to "title blogging" and no photo. Even though he started dialysis early yesterday it was still way into the wee hours of the morning till his treatment was finished. I was asleep and he didn't awaken me so he didn't get disconnected till I woke up this morning. He slept some. But I do wish that he could be finished with treatments around midnight so we could both sleep. I don't think that we can start them early enough for that to happen. Appointments have to happen sometimes in the afternoon so I don't see us starting before 3pm and that seems to get him finished around 2am or so. I have a feeling that we will move the treatments back to during the night as now they are interrupting our late afternoon, evening, and night. It seems like I get him disconnected and it is time to set him up again prior to getting him connected at whatever time we are starting it. He is just starting the 2nd cycle of four. The first cycle took three hours. Some as we go along get a little shorter. But if 4 cycles and they each take 3 hours...then it is a 12 hour process...so half a day for each treatment. He's watching TV and playing solitaire at the moment. He had been reading. Sometime after the third cycle, he usually transfers over to the couch hoping to catch a bit of sleep. Sometime after the 2nd cycle I usually head upstairs having told him to "page" me if he needs me. And, thus goes part of our days and nights these days. Our new normal...or is it our new abnormal?!? Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

What a Wednesday!

It's getting harder and harder to use the legacy format of blogger. I have to choose legacy format each time I come in and sometimes it lets me get to that link and sometimes it doesn't. I'm wondering if shortly they won't let me choose this one...then it will be no pictures again. Three of Woody's treatment cycles were through by midnight last night. So we both went to bed and I know that I slept and I think that he did at least a little. He didn't page me when it was finished. I disconnected him and finished all the post tasks after I came down around 6. Then I got busy making my mother's recipe for Boston Baked Beans. I had soaked the beans overnight so was ready for the next step...letting them simmer on top of the stove for a couple of hours. While they were simmering I got the rest of the ingredients ready. When they were finished simmering, I added all the other ingredients and popped them in a low oven for 6-8 hours. I think that I ended up cooking them about 6-1/2 hours. They baked while we went to the Fresenius kidney clinic. It was just a check-in to make sure that everything was going okay for us. The good thing was that Woody was able to head out with his walker on his own and didn't need Nathan to help us with transporting him in a wheelchair. I think that he is extra tired this evening, but it was good for him to get up and do something. He took it slow and had several resting spots on his way to and from the car. We also made a stop at the Credit Union on our way home. It as lunch time when we got home. After lunch, I called Donna for our Wednesday "library" chat. It's always good to catch up with each other. After our chat, I got busy in the kitchen and made Connie's German Slaw. Woody likes slaw with his baked beans. Then it was time to make a meatloaf. By that time it was also time to get Woody connected for his nightly dialysis! We were a bit later this evening as before I got the meatloaf in the oven (which I wanted to have baking while I was getting Woody connected), the doorbell rang and it was the Air Conditioning repairman with the new part for our AC. I had to put Woody's treatment on hold as the air can't run while I am getting him connected and I knew that once the part was installed we would have to turn it on. But it didn't take very long. The meatloaf was about finished baking so I turned off the oven and just let it stay in the oven while I went through all the steps for tonight's dialysis. It was done perfectly when I finished and got Woody's plate ready. He is on the last part of the first cycle...three cycles to go...do you sense a pattern to our days?!? Dishwasher is going. Now to go tackle the rest of the kitchen mess and check on Woody's progress in the drain cycle. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Tuesday Doings

We have pretty much just stuck here at the house today and haven't done a lot. Woody finished his treatment 4ish and he was disconnected and I had all the post "jobs" completed by 5am. We started at 4:30pm today. He is into the dwell time of the second cycle of this treatment. The first drain was a bit slow, but that seems to be a pattern...after the first drain the next ones seem to pick up a bit of speed. He continues to feel better...he's no longer light-headed as it looks like his blood pressure meds are working in the way Dr. O and the nurse spaced them out. We are both confused as to the day...one seems like another...we are up both in the day time and in the night time. We sleep both in the night and in the day! A bit confusing! The other thing that is confusing is that the treatment starts on one day and ends on the next. So at times I have to stop and think if we are finished or starting! Tomorrow will have a marker that will say what day it is...we have an appointment at the dialysis clinic. so in the morning after his treatment is complete, I will have to remove the thumb drive and put the vital signs notebook near my purse so I won't forget it when he head off to the appointment. Our hummingbirds are happy. I made new food for them today. Our little fast flying friends found the full feeder very quickly. I finished another book today. I am closing in on 100 books for this year. I have slowed down quite a bit on my reading since Woody went on dialysis...a lot of times when I sit down to read my eyes close sooner than I had planned! I got busy on this book because it was time for it to be snatched back into cyber space! Woody continues to do a lot of reading...one activity that he likes to do that he can still do. He does still do a coule of crossword puzzle each day. I made sourdough biscuits today with my sourdough discard. I have some active sourdough starter and some in the refrigerator in case I kill what is on my counter and also have some stored in the freezer. It's amazing all the types of recipes that can be made with this. Sourdough brownies are sounding quite good...one of these days! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Another week...

I think that is safe to say that "things" continue to get better for Woody and his dialysis. The change in amount and strength of the solution seem to be helping him get through the treatments with less problems. I even think that he is feeling some better. His nausea is definitely better. He even asked for seconds at lunch today. He hadn't asked for more I some time. I got up at six and Woody said that his treatment had finished at 4am but didn't want to wake me up. I got him disconnected and fixed breakfast. Fairly early I headed off to Walmart to try to get several things...still no disinfectant wipes...or Clorox spray cleaner. I guess after this container of disinfectant wipes that I will have to make my own Clorox and water solution to wipe off the table that I put the supplies on and the machine and cart...part of the many steps to get things ready for Woody's daily dialysis treatment. I managed to find a couple of other things actually on the shelves. The lack of items on the shelves still surprises me. Our downstairs air conditioning unit has been acting funny lately and I finally realized that it had a problem...The downstairs unit isn't run all that often due to Woody being so cold so much of the time these days. Anyway, I do turn it on to cool down the kitchen and also prior to setting up Woody's treatments. I finally realized that it wasn't responding the way it usually does. The AC folk came very quickly in response to our SOS. He found out what was wrong and has to order the part...best part...it is still under warenty! That was good news. And, this week it isn't as hot as it has been so se can easily wait the part to come in and not be miserable. Woody is glad for it not to work...I am sure! Woody is into his second hour of tonight's treatment as we moved it up an hour more tonight. We can't move it into the day too much as it might interfere with appointments. I think if we get it moved to 3pm then it will be finished around midnight and we would have the rest of the night to sleep. We'll see if that will work. He is dozing at the moment. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Better Night and Day!

All the changes that the doctor and nurse made yesterday seem to be helping. Our night went pretty smoothly. After the second cycle, I went to bed and told Woody to "page" me if he needed me and that if I wasn't up when the treatment was over that he could wake me up and I would come down and unhook him. His lightheadedness seems to be over. And, all his blood pressure readings have been good today...so maybe separating out all his blood pressure meds is helping. He was much more comfortable during the treatment since they lessened the amount of solution being put in him. So things are on the up and up. So far he has kept all his meals down and even drank a protein supplement. I have the machine all set up and ready to connect him. He is planning to do it an hour earlier tonight as we work towards him doing the dialysis during the day instead of the night. During one of his cycles last night I got the Sunday School lesson extra done. We still aren't meeting at church for Sunday School so Marie, our class teacher, or I do a little summary of the lesson and email it to class members. Marie had knee replacement yesterday so I'm doing the lessons for a while till she feels like taking it back over. My friend Ruth came over today and we had a porch chat...a nice diversion in the day! We have storms coming in. I think that I hear the rain starting. I'm sitting in the dining room and I hear it on the kitchen window...hasn't made it to the dining room window yet! Here it is! This storm is the approach of a cold front...it's that time of the year again! Doesn't seem possible that Fall is just around the corner. When Fall begins, we will have gone through two seasons during the pandemic...Spring, Summer and a few days of Winter. Will it ever end?!? Have any of you heard what the symptoms that the lady had who stopped one of the trials for a Covid vaccine? For some reason...when I initially heard something about the reason that one study had stopped...whatever the words were I wondered if her symptoms could have been those of Transverse Myelitis...and last night on the news that question running through my mind was answered in the affirmative. Some of you who have followed the blog from the get-go...or just know me...know that 17 years ago I was struck with Transverse Myelitis, a neurological disease that attacks the spinal cord...I am one of the lucky ones who have next to no remaining symptoms...mainly a tingly right hand and once in a while another of the symptoms pop up. I credit Celebrex (now its generic) with keeping symptoms at bay. In the past when I have had to stop taking it more of the symptoms come back. The Celebrex keeps the swelling in the spinal cord down due to its anti inflammatory properties. All this is just a piece of information that I thought might be of interest to some of you. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Remembering

It has been another busy day. Most of the busyness came when we "packed up" and went to the doctor. We saw Woody's nephrologist at the Fresenius Kidney Clinic. They continue to work with Woody trying to get him feeling better. One thing that Dr. O is addressing is his blood pressure. He is to take his blood pressure prior to taking any blood pressure med and then we have instructions to stop taking look pressure meds until his blood pressure starts to rise and then to add them back in a different times. It's all a lot to keep up with! They are also having him take something to try to settle his stomach...that was an easy med to add as it is over the counter and I take it and had just gotten some new and it came in a multiple bottle box...so I have given him one of the bottles. They also have lessened the amount of fluid that is put into Woody during each of the four cycles and we are dropping the strength of the solution. So we shall see! We go back next week to see a nurse and they evaluate to see how everything is going. The nurse thought that Woody's color looked better than it did on Tuesday. He also got the shot that is supposed to be helping with his anemia. So it is a lot of trial and error!! Nathan took us to the clinic again today. Another thing that they said is that Woody can do his dialysis during the day if it is interfering with his sleep. If he decides to do that we will just start a little earlier each evening until we can complete the dialysis during the waking hours. Since he isn't any too peppy at the moment and doing a lot of sitting that he can do dialysis while doing his crossword puzzles, watching tv and reading just as easily and he will be sitting up in the recliner. I don't know a if he wants to start a little earlier tonight or not. Everything is set up so we can start whenever he wants. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

And, the Week Goes On

Not a lot to say about today...pretty much "the same ol', same ol'. Woody hasn't felt like doing much today. I think it took about two hours this morning till he felt like moving from his recliner to the scale that is about three feet away from him! He slept a good part of the afternoon. I have everything set up to be able to connect him to the dialysis cycler machine sometime after 8pm. The routine is pretty much set these days. Last night went fairly well...not a lot of alarms...or at least it was easy toget things going again by him just shifting his position a bit. He was totally finished this morning a little before 8am...except for weighing. This afternoon, we finally heard from the nutritionist. I think that we heard from her today and the social worker yesterday as the team usually meets when the patient sees the doctor and the doctor changed the usual schedule and they won't be able to meet with us in person so made the first contacts by phone. at the moment his diet isn't all that strict since we need to get him to gain some weight back...still some restrictions...but just not as many. Protein is high on the list of what he needs to consume. Now, if only his appetite would pick up. I made a casserole that he wanted when he couldn't have it...today...it tasted "just ok" to him. He did like (at least enough to ask for it for supper) a baked pasta dish that I made this afternoon and served him a couple of bites at lunch to see if he liked it well enough to have some more at another time. I made it with quinoa (that may not be spelled right...but am afraid to do a spell check...might lose my cursor again!) penne. Quinoa adds more protein to the pasta. He at least requested it for supper and ate the small portion that I gave him. He wanted a scoop of vanilla ice cream a little while after he finished his pasta. The ice cream is considered a fluid (anything that turns to liquid at room temperature) and right now they want him to consume some more fluids as he is dehydrated. He has done better about drinking water, some juice, and then the ice cream. Water is not his favorite thing these days! Most dialysis patients have to limit fluids but for the moment Woody doesn't have to follow that rule. He is even supposed to eat some salty items to help him retain some of that fluid...again, an exception to the usual dialysis rule. We will see his nephrologist tomorrow afternoon. I will be glad for the doctor to see him in person. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Our Little Pumpkin Pickers, part 2

Once again I lost control of the cursor before I was finished with the blog...oh, well...Today was a major victory for Woody. He made it up the stairs and managed to take a shower. They finally said that his surgery site was healed enough to take a shower. It was a major effort of his part, but he did accomplish it, though it wore him out. I guess you can say that he got his exercise in today. This afternoon I attempted to have my weekly "library" chat with Donna, but we kept getting interrupted by my other phone ringing and each time it was someone from Fresenius calling...first the social worker. She had talked to Woody yesterday when I was getting my hair cut and she had a couple more questions so this time I talked with her. Then the next call was from the nurse that we saw yesterday. She was checking on Woody and also made an appointment for him to see his nephrologist on Friday. My other call with Fresenius was this morning when I called to make our next order! We are assigned days to order and days that we receive our order. Next order arrives in two weeks. It should be a much smaller order this time! Nathan had found a shower chair a while back for us "just in case." Well, it came in very handy today...but it didn't fit in the tub exactly right and it needs to be really stable. This afternoon he came over with a brand new bench-style shower seat that someone had donated for their yardsale. Perfect! Much sturdier and part of it is on the outside of the tub so he can sit on it and then put him legs over the side of the tub...much safer and much more stable. So we donated the first one to their yard sale! In case anyone is in the area they are having a mission/moving yard sale this weekend...Friday and Saturday...I think. Eight families have donated items for it...so someone's trash might become a treasure find for you! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Our Little Pumpkin Pickers, part 1

One day last week our doorbell rang and when I got there the larger pumpkin was sitting on our door mat. I went out front and called, "Oh, little pumpkin picker come back!" And, Isaac showed his little face around the corner of the house. When they went out to check the pumpkins on the vine that was growing from our compost pile, this one had severed itself from the vine. I told Isaac that they could have the pumpkins and he happily ran off with the larger one. Later the above photo showed up on his mom's Facebook page...both Isaac and Joseph with a pumpkin! This year our volunteer vine grew two quite pretty pumpkins. It seems that each year our compost pile produces some very large pumpkin vines grown from seeds that have been thrown away with the compost. Some years we get more than other years. Isaac and Joseph were very happy to each get s pumpkin this year. Last night was a pretty good night for Woody's dialysis treatment. Nothing too major to speak of. The main problem is Woody negotiating over all the wires and tubes if he has to make a trip to the bathroom...last night's trip was a bit of a tangle and I didn't wake up to help him, but he managed and nothing got unplugged or pulled out! The cords are a problem but there is nothing we can do about them as the machine has to be pulled over to either the recliner or the couch and the furniture is in the middle of the room...so when the machine is pulled out the wires run out from the back to the wall...not real convenient! And, the tubing...well there is lots of length of tubing connecting Woody to the machine and then a long length of drain tubing from the machine to the bathroom. And, Woody's walker has two little "ski feet" that love to move cords and wires right along with them and get tangled with them. We tried to remedy the situation a little with some guides that the nurse gave us yesterday...but the way our machine is situated in the room they aren't a lot of help keeping the tubing out of the way...he has to negotiate over them coming and going from the bathroom.

More Than a Week Into September!

It has been a good day in some respects and a not so good day in others! I will spare you the details of the not so good...be thankful! The main event of the day was to go to the Fresenius Kidney Center for an appointment with the nurse. At first we didn't think that we would get there as Woody was feeling so weak and light headed. Nathan picked up the wheel chair that he had loaned to someone who no longer needed it. The wheelchair made the trip very easy on Woody. Nathan drove us and came in for the appointment. We met with a different nurse. She is the head over a wide area of TN centers and had trained the two nurses that we have had. She started out at this center and now travels between a lot of them. She is Tullahoma this week and she was a very big help. Woody's blood pressure was low...reason for his feeling faint. She took it upon herself to contact Woody's nephrologist and work out how he wanted Woody to take his blood pressure meds. She called us and explained the plan to me...makes sense and Woody has the new schedule written down. She is supposed to have the nutritionist call us. At the moment we just want Woody to eat! We've got to get some meat back on his bones! At the moment there isn't a problem with water retention so they aren't worried about amounts of fluids that he consumes. He still isn't very interested in food. I can put in front of him what he requests and he doesn't get very far with it before it no longer appeals. Well, it is about time to hook him up for tonight's treatment. Here's hoping that things go smoothly! Tomorrow I have to order supplies!!! Oh, my! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Labor Day 2020

Neither of us have labored much today...guess we decided to take a rest from laboring! Last night's dialysis treatment cycles went much better. I actually slept through one due to the fact that I thought that I had Alexa turn on the intercom to The family room. So I knew that I would hear any alarms and just went on to sleep and didn't set any alarms. Well, I heard no alarms, but discovered when Alexa shut off another alarm that she also shut off the intercom. Last night was pretty much alarm free. The statistics about the treatment show that there were a few, but Woody said that he thought he heard them and just moved around some. Last night Woody chose to sleep in the recliner and I'm thinking that the recliner is a better height than the couch. The nurse said that the couch height was okay, but it comes pretty close to be lower from the rolling cart top than it should be and when Woody lies down it goes a little lower. I think that I want him to sleep in the recliner again tonight and see if things continue to be smoother. Also being in the recliner lets the tubing lay out straighter on the floor. So far Woody hasn't felt nauseated or been sick today...that is a definite plus. I'm trying to get some protein down him at every meal. Today he ate a hamburger for the first time in a very long time. I made hamburger buns yesterday (store bought buns have hidden phosphate in them). We had some of Nathan's home grown tomatoes and a slice of onion. He used his sweet red pepper sauce/his catsup on it and he said that it tasted really good. One of his tears today was a scoop of pineapple sherbet...he is liking cold and wet these days. He still doesn't have much energy and feels quite weak...but we are working on getting him to feel better! Before supper tonight, I got "things" all set up and ready to hook him up when the time comes tonight. Less stressful to do it ahead of time. There's a certain numberof of steps that can be done any time prior to treatment time. Well, we have had a very quiet Labor Day. The only other person we have seen is Nathan when he came over to fill his water jug for their water cooler and then when he came back with some freshly picked tomatoes. Planning for the rest of the day and night to continue being calm! We are definitely getting settled into our new dialysis norm! Tomorrow we will be going to the dialysis center. We have an appointment with the dialysis nurse to go over how things have been going and get any further instructions that we might need. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Busy September Saturday

F I haven't even mentioned that it is September. Where does the time go?!? It's almost Fall and all this Covid mess started in Spring. I actually went into our Credit Union for the first time in more than six months. Woody usually does the errand to the Credit Union but today I added it in with my grocery shopping errand. So saying that I haven't been isn't saying a lot...just that Woody usually does it. They have added some new fangled drive-up Windows and I didn't want to give them a try so decided to do the "go inside" route. Have to get used to the circles on the floor and the plexiglass around the teller stations. I got all our grocery shopping done for the next two weeks. Got them all out away after getting home. Made a quick trip to the pharmacy to get Woody's elusive blood pressure prescription...finally it was there when I tried to get it! It took three tries, but now he has it...thanks to our dialysis nurse. He took it upon himself to see that it got faxed to the pharmacy. After I got back from the pharmacy, I got busy making a new recipe: a dialysis recipe: Chili Cornbread Casserole. Woody really wanted chili, but liquids are supposedly limited when on dialysis (still haven't talked to a nutritionist...so took it upon myself to look around and find some recipes that fit the bill). This recipe is from the Fresenius website...so maybe they approve of it?!? It is made with a very thick chili...not much liquid added. That is the bottom layer of the casserole. There is supposed to be a layer of cheese which Woody nixed as he DOESN'T like cheese (I can't imagine not liking cheese!). Then the top is a cornbread batter poured over the top. It really was tasty and I made sure that the chili flavor was pretty much just like "my" chili. Woody said that it was okay...he said that he REALLY liked the chili part. I know...he just wants a big bowl of my usual chili! This particular recipe is packed with protein...something that I am trying to get into him one way or another! If his appetite would just pick up and if only food just sounded good to him again! Last night's dialysis treatment went okay...not great...as there were a lot of slow drain alerts during the drain cycle. I had to be sure to be there during the drain time as Woody was so sound asleep that he couldn't hear the beeps. I told him tonight if it happens that much again, he will have to wake up and move around a bit to get the draining going better! We'll see if he remembers when I try to wake him up! The slow drain times made for a longer overall time for this treatment. Tonight's photo shows the cassette...not what I picture a cassette looking like...what about you? This is a one time use item that has all the tubing needed to connect everything. The two circles at the top are part of the pump process. The red clamp goes to the bag that is being heated, the white clamps go to the other bags of which we only use one nor do we use the green clamp line. The yellow clamp is the drain line. And, the blue clamp is the patient line. Got all that?!? The patient line has an extra long length of tubing which lets the patient be able to get up and move around and not have to be right next to the machine. On that note, I guess I will go down and start gathering supplies. I can start doing quite a few of the steps at any time prior to Woody's dialysis treatment. I like doing a few things and then do a few more a little later and not do them all at once. The cassette in the photo is laying on top of the two bags of solution...each bag is 5 liters...he gets 2.5 liters pumped into him in each cycle and goes through a total of 4 cycles in a little more than 8 hours...more "if" the drain s l o w s way down! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious as you go about this Labor Day weekend!

More Smooth Sailing!

Some times we can't see the whole picture...as something is just around the bend or over the hill...or in this photo...just around the mown portion of the field and behind what is growing! You get just a hint of the barn, but it satisfied our desire to capture what we could see of it. That is sort of like what is going on with us now...can't get the whole picture and what we see only in part. All WILL get clearer over time! I am finding out my explanations may lack in completeness! Back to the AC having to be off...that is only while I am connecting him and disconnecting him. I have turned on the air for a little before we get going on connecting him...that way I haven't been as hot. Today we got rid of another box. FedEx picked up the faulty dialysis cycler and whether it gets back to its home is questionable. There was no return label. But the driver took it anyway. She said that they had paid for it to be picked up so she figured that someone could figure out where It should be sent! Last night's treatment went very smoothly. There were only to rather quiet beeps telling us that the drain was going slow. I uncurled the tubing and shifted it around and then it started draining properly again. Woody never woke up for the alarm or me messing with the machine. I think as time goes on I will be able to trust the machine! I will say that getting him connected last night went more smoothly than the night before. Maybe one of these days I will feel very comfortable with all the procedures and rules! Our dialysis nur called today checking on us. I was glad to be able to report good news this time! He was supposed to get Woody's one blood pressure med phoned into the pharmacy...and I remembered to check just as it was closing. I will get it for him tomorrow. Woody still feels rather sick at times. He didn't make it through his whole supper tonight before he was sick. i hope that is over with for tonight. All is quiet at the moment! I will head down and gather up all the supplies and start getting things ready. It is easier for me if I do the gathering piecemeal a while before I have to do the actual steps...though the gathering is part of the steps. But it is nice to have those done. We also have to take his vitals prior to the treatment and then again in the morning after it is over. I made him some sweet and nutty protein bars this morning...a Fresenius Kidney Center recipe that I found on the Internet. He needs more protein while doing this type of dialysis and also more potassium. This method tends to pull off good things as well as bad things during the process. He rather liked the protein bars...even asked for another after he was done. Well, off to gather supplies! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! Melany said that a class of second graders and their teacher have had to go on quarantine because a child tested positive. The bad thing is that he came back to school after he was tested so exposed everyone for another two days before he got a positive test! Melany is his art teacher...hopefully she didn't have close enough contact with him! And, the Covid19 saga goes on and on and...

Finally, cont.

I lost my cursor on my last sentence so will finish in a new blog. I was saying that it will be cold in the room in winter because we won't be able to run the heat while setting him how! My poor little cold fingers may not be able to work in the cold! Or maybe all the glove changing will keep them warm!?! I just had to go downstairs. Woody is feeling sick again...not good as we head into the start of the dialysis. Hope his tummy will settle down in the next half hour! Hopefully it will be smooth sailing again tonight! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

FINALLY!!!!

At last I can say that we managed to get in a full dialysis treatments! I think that the machine was faulty to begin with and then the cassette malfunction just put it over the edge! Anyway, the new machine seems to be working fine. There was only one alarm. It happened during one of the drain times. It just told us that he was draining slowly. Woody slept through the alarm so I had to get him wake up enough to shift around and I checked the drain line to make sure that there were no kinks in it etc. Then I pushed "ok" and he started draining again and no more alerts sounded. I figured about how much time till the next drain and set an alarm as the drain times seem to cause us thermoset problems. One of the times I came down to check, the drain time was already finished. When I came down this morning just prior to him finishing, I found him sitting in his recliner...he has enough tubing that he can move about and not be tethered too closely to the machine and cart. I thought that it had been a good sign to find him sitting up, but it was that he had been sick. He said that he thinks he got sick because S abdomen was so full. I'll address that with our dialysis nurse. There are still lots of questions to discuss with the dialysis nurse and his kidney doctor AND the nutritionist. From start to finish last night it took 11 hours. About an hour of that is me just going through all the set-up procedures. I feel that that time will go down once I am more familiar with the routine! Maybe? Hopefully! The procedure for getting him disconnected is much less time consuming. I asked him how he felt today and he said that at first he felt very weak, but after he took his new B-12 vitamins that he felt like he had more energy...the pharmacist had said that they would help him. We both slept off and on during the day today. Our bodies have to get used to this new routine. I think that we will both sleep better once we get through several treatments that aren't problematic! Eventually this will become very routine...we hope! We are two boxes less today. After two treatments we empty two boxes...since we use two different strength of the solution. Nathan and I put tonight's solution bags on the card table in the family room and Nathan took two empty boxes off the stack. Nathan also packaged up the old, faulty machine so it can be picked up. I was told that it would be picked up tomorrow...when I have no idea...so guess that I am tied to the house till they come...if they come! Oh, I want to explain about having no air on when we are getting him connected...it is not because Woody is cold, it is one of the "rules" that I have been given...no open doors, windows, no fans or AC going...in other words no moving air in the room to stir up germs. The warmth is enough to up my speed for getting him connected! It was pointed out to me that we will be cold when it is winter

What Are the Odds? Part 2

This little cat bird is watching for another very important delivery! My question is "what are the odds of your dialysis machine malfunctioning on the second night that you try to do home dialysis?!? Well, in our case I think that odds aren't even a factor any more! Everything went smoothly getting Woody set up last night. It took about an hour to get everything up and going...hopefully that time will go down over time! Getting on the gloves takes up quite a bit of my time...and gloves are changed multiple times! Anyway...we got underway about 9:30 and in less than fifteen minutes things were at a standstill...alarms going off once again. The first fill had started and I picked up all the dropped pieces of paper that come off the tubing and threw them away and headed into the kitchen to put some more dishes into the dishwasher before running it. I hadn't even gotten to the sink before the warning beeps started going off. Went to see what the message was and it told me that I needed to reposition the solution bag over the heater sensor and to check that the clamps were open. The solution bag was where it was supposed to be...but I shifted it some and checked all the clamps and they were open. So pushed OK to try again. Within moments the same message was on the screen. I moved the bag a couple more times...wondering as it was exactly where I usually put it. After making 4 attempts to"fix the problem" and I got the phone and called the tech folk...right number the first time tonight! I explained what was going on and what had happened to us the night before. As soon as she heard that there had been water inside the machine after the malfunction of the cassette, she said that they would overnight us a new machine...supposed to be here by 8pm tonight in time for his next dialysis treatment. So the little bird in the photo above is keeping his eye out for the delivery. I have Nathan on call to help lift it and then get the flash drive and modem plugged in. Supposedly that is all we have to do to have Woody's info in the machine. I won't hold my breath that any of this will actually occur. We can continue to say that Woody still has never had a full dialysis treatment. Monday night he got a 1/4 of a treatment and last night 0 treatment. I called our nurse this morning...as we are instructed to do if a treatment can't be completed. He said that we could wait till tonight's treatment. I was glad as I just couldn't face having to do a manual treatment so soon in our dialysis adventure. Just received a call that our new machine will be here in 10 or 15 minutes! So maybe we will be good to go for tonight! BUT I will not hold my breath! Be safe! Be well! Be Cautious!

Two Blogs for the Price of One Today!

I think that I will let the pictures be worth a thousand words for this blog. A little explanation as to what you are seeing once they got put in my living room. The boxes that are in front of the door that goes under the stairs are all the extra supplies. Those have been out elsewhere so we can get in that door...under the stairs houses the kids toys...rarely used these days and also the water heater...I know...not a good place for a water heater, but I didn't choose where it is situated...the house came that way! The boxes along the "stair" wall are all solutions for manual dialysis. That stack got higher as some of the boxes in front of the under the stairs closet were for manual dialysis. We only do manual dialysis in case of power outage or if the machine has a problem...and the way things have been going that may happen next!!! our nurse will ask us to do a manual exchange every so often so we will know how to do dialysis that way when it is necessary. There is now a stack of boxes on the fireplace hearth and the rest of the things are on the shelves of the closet in the family room. Everything is put away or in stacks of like items. The gentleman who delivered was very helpful. He came from south of Birmingham. We were his last delivery. I just got finished gong through e one box of miscellaneous supplies and got them out away. One item is missing...the gloves. I have some from when Woody was having at home IV antibiotics...but I don't like them! They are flimsier than the ones they use at the dialysis center. Hopefully I will get some after I report them missing. I guess when I get done here I will go down and eat a bite of supper...all this sort of takes your appetite away! Then I will begin once again doing what we get to do every night as long as this method works. Here's hoping that tonight goes better than last night...surely the odds are against the cassette being faulty again! At least tonight if we experience the same problem we will cry "uncle" sooner and just do the manual drain and be done with it for the night. Praying that tonight he will get his first complete dialysis treatment and that we will get more sleep than we did last night! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! Oh...and...there were more boxes than they said...there were 60 boxes of just one solution. I should have counted...but just too tired to mess with that detail!

What Are the Odds?!?

This roadside art, that we see along one of our byways on our barn trips, is a little the way I feel this morning! I decided that perhaps today deserved to be a two-blog day! One covering our last night "experience" and another covering our BIG delivery this afternoon. Last night was interesting to say a the least. It was fairly quiet till around 1am. Woody slept peacefully for a while...during a fill and then a dwell time. The drain time was what started the problems. The first drain took a very long time and he kept getting the message that it was draining too slowly. He wiggled and jiggled and stood and sat and bent and...you get the picture, at least slightly. Finally enough drained that the cycler machine went on to the next fill...no problem, then the dwell...no problem...then the next drain...the same problem as the first except s l o w e r! We gots bells and alarms and warnings, etc.n we kept trying to make him drain...but to no avail. So I decided that it looked like we would have to do a manual drain. Thank goodness I asked the nurse for one at the training yesterday! I had a couple of questions and wanted to check to see if the 24/7 nurse could help me. I know that I started out to call the nurse phone number, but in looking away at the phone and then back, I plugged in a different number. I didn't find out till later that it was then "disaster" phone number...for folk at time of hurricanes, tornados, floods, etc. The young lady who helped me never indicated that I had called the wrong number. She just took me through some steps that might make the drain work better. I tried them all to no avail. At the end of our conversation she said that if we didn't get to a certain number in a certain time then perhaps the manual drain was the answer. I then asked her the question that I had about the manual drain and she said she could only answer cycler machine questions...which made me wonder why a nurse couldn't address either. But still thought that I had called the nurse phone number. So then I went about getting things ready to do the manual drain and Woody kept trying to get more to drain. He was concerned that it was a problem with his catheter. I still hadn't had my manual drain question answered, but I finally figured it out on my own. I continued to get him disconnected from the cycler machine and connected to the manual drain bag. When I unplugged things then the alarm really started sounding and it wouldn't stop with the stop button. So I decided to call the nurse number back...but I should have realized that this time I needed tech support. Hard to think straight under the circumstances of alarms and figuring everything out for the first time on our own! Anyway, the nurse did answer my question about getting the machine shut down and alarm off, but she did tell me that I should call the tech line next time! Yes, mam! She was nice about it and very helpful...just getting that alarm off helped a lot! From there we got the drain bag connected to the extension on Woody's catheter and opened clamps and drain he did! That took a while but no where as long as we had already taken to "try" to drain with the machine. In those moments I couldn't remember the reason that we had to do a manual drain during training. When I finally got the cassette door to unlatch, I remembered...when water came spilling out. We had had a faulty cassette during the training...so what are the odds that we would have another one on our very first night of doing dialysis at home on our own?!? The nurse told us that he had hardly ever had that happen! Oh, well, I guess we are special! At least we got through it, but he still hasn't had a complete dialysis treatment as he only got one bag of solution instead of two. Woody decided that he wanted some juice before he went to bed (5am by this time!), but I guess that was a mistake. Shortly after he got it down it all came back up...so more to clean up. So far today I have done three loads of wash...a quilt that was on the couch for his bedding, lots of towels (both from the leak and Woody getting sick), and a few clothes. I have had to try to clean and dry out the remote that got in the way...oops! So far it isn't working. I had papers and notebooks lined up on the kitchen counters drying out from the water that came out of the machine and "dripped" on them because they were on the shelf under the machine on the cart. As Woody finally was ready to get a coule of hours of sleep, he looked at me and smiled and said, "And,not think we get to do this all over again tonight!" And, it wasn't in a complaining way! My comment was, "Are we having fun yet?" I tried to go back to sleep, but never did...so running on adrenaline until I crash! The BIG delivery is due sometime between noon and 4...so not sure when I will doze...maybe sitting in the chair here in the living room??? I have also called the dialysis nurse, we have been working with, to let him know what wild readings he would be getting. He had planned to call us at 9am to find out.l.i beat him. His reaction was sort of unbelief and sorry that we hadn't and a better experience. He did say that I at least knew that it wasn't something I had done or not done to make the problem happen. I guess those are comforting words! Well, the delivery person for Fresenius just called and he is 30 min away. Off to get our masks. I'll blog later if I can still put one foot in front of the other...of it I can even walk through my house!