What you see pictured tonight is an old friend and as of 5pm I guess you could say she died as service was shut off to her. Melany will be bringing me an iPhone tomorrow. We are a part of their family plan and today they migraged from Sprint to T-Mobile...and thus the demise of my phone. I am not technology ignorant...have an iPad, laptop, computerized sewing machines (my sewing machine just finished stitching a design as I was typing here), but I have resisted a smart phone because I am not all that fond of phones...don't want to feel tied to one. I have enjoyed first my flip phone and then this slide phone...it has been a definite aid when we are away from the house and I enjoy texting my family and friends with the slide phone...though, I will admit I won't miss the chopped up messages and the way they come in in multiple posts. Melany and Wade got us the phone and added us to their plan when Woody was starting out his melanoma treatments and we were going to be in the hospital for days on end...that was back in 2009...at that time it was a flip phone...later they upgraded me to my current slide phone. I mostly leave it on the end table next to our bed plugged into the charger...at first the only time that I took it with us was when we were going out of town. I do try to tuck it in my purse when I head out on errands around town now and do most times. And, really only take it in case I need to call someone if the car doesn't start or I have some other problem. I figure that I spend too much time on my iPad as it is and now I will have another device to distract me and get my attention away from probably more important things! I knew that this was coming as of January my phone was no longer going to be supported so I had been gearing my mind up to the fact that the "inevitable" was going to happen. I was just surprised when Melany called today and said that it was happening today. She, at first, said that I needed to go to the T-Mobile store here in town and get a phone...ummmmmmm...not sure how that would have gone over...me not really knowing what I was doing! But in the end they decided that they would go on and get the phone while they were taking care of theirs and I will reimburse them when Melany brings the phone to me tomorrow...would rather they get it since they definitely know more what they are doing than I! Now on to Woody! He is doing a little better today. He is still weak, but is eating better today so that should help some to give him at least a little more energy. I will be glad once he get his transfusion on Monday...that should really help. And, if the change in his dialysis makes his dialysis work better then that should help him feel better also. I'm not sure if I mentioned, but they have upped the amount of solution that is put in at each cycle and also are leaving a given amount in his peritenium throughout the day. That adds another step to his dialysis time...now there is a drain at the start of each of his dialysis treatments. Adds a little more time to the entire process, but if it helps dylate him better and he feels better then that should be worth the extra time. He wouldn't mind the extra time if he slept during it, but often he doesn't. I wasn't surprised when he said that he didn't sleep well last night as he had slept a lot during the day. He has shown more interest in checking on "his" baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. They are doing very well at the moment...they have won 15 games in a row, a franchise record. So he is happily reviewing all about the games using my iPad. He has enjoyed spending time on the iPad. Since he hasn't been coming upstairs lately that "cut him off" from the laptop where he used to do all his checking on his team. The last week or so he has shown interest in the iPad, which I am glad he has shown that interest. Of course, him having the iPad makes me a bit later blogging sometimes...like tonight. While he finished up with the iPad this evening, I got the dialysis cycler and supplies that I will need all set up and ready for connection time. My part of the dialysis treatment can be divided into three parts: 1) set up (getting out supplies and getting the machine turned on and the solution bags connected to the machine so the solution can begin warming (warms up to around body temperature); 2) connecting him and getting the dialysis started for the night; 3) disconnecting him the next morning and redressing the catheter site where it enters his abdoman and getting the machine shut down and completing records...the records that I started back during step 1). And, that tells a little about the process that we go through each and every day. During those three steps I change gloves 5 times...so 10 gloves per treatment/100 in 10 days! I feel wasteful when I have just washed my hands with antibacterial soap and do one thing and then have to take that pair off and use handsanitizer and put on another pair of gloves! So far tonight I have used one pair, in the next step I will use two pair, and in the morning I will use two pair. Sometimes I have a problem convincing that people I order supplies from that I need that many! But I have finally gotten it written in our order that I can have plenty of boxes to get through a month and some beyond. Now if Woody were doing his own connecting and disconneting, then he wouldn't have to wear gloves...just wash his hands with antibacterial soap and use handsanitizer everytime that he is making a connection...that is because he is his in his own germ field. Enough about gloves! Now I am off to do step 2 for tonight...getting him connected and the dialysis started for tonight. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!
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