One Down…the Rest of His Life to Go!

Well...we have made it through day 1 of hemodialysis training. It took a looooooong time. We got to the center a little after 8:30am and didn't leave the center till almost 2pm. A lot of that was due to it being the first day and having to go through LOTS of paperwork and lots of technology set up. The technology set up was partly where we got hung up. I will have an iPad that talks to the dialysis hemodialysis cycler and that interaction just didn't want to get set up. We left hoping that tomorrow would solve the oroblem or that a new "box" would be sent to solve the oroblem. Woody was amazed by all that this dialysis process entails...I tried to tell him that is just too much...but... At the moment it is mind boggling to say the least. But I know that Peritoneal Dialysis seemed this way at the start too. But I do think that this is much more involved. I just watched today...may do a little more hands on tomorrow. There is a lot of training to do on the iPad also. We went through washing and sanitizing hands today since it was something that we are familiar with. She didn't want to overwhelm us "too much!" I did feel a little "off" for a while...I didn't focus on what was going through all the tubes! As you can see...Woody was quite cold, but so was I. He can't cover the area that has the catheter in it so one of his shoulders is quite cold. I found a button up the front shawl collar sweater that he can wear tomorrow. He felt cold for a while after getting home, but now says he no longer feels cold. We both took naps after getting home. It is a bit strange not getting ready to set him up for PD tonight. Just think...he can choose when he goes to bed tonight and won't be hooked to anything or have a machine running and beeping all night. I hoping that he can hopefully sleep more tonight! The hemodialysis takes around 3 hours...I'm not sure how much time all the set-up, take-down, record keeping, etc., etc. will take. I'm trying not to even think about it...one step at a time. And, thankfully the nurses are very patient! I already feel like we have a repport with them...which helps. The machine in the photo is our machine that will come home with us. The chair is also what they want to order for us...I will say that I really don't want the chair to be "his" chair all the time...it is NOT very comfortable. Tomorrow we will remember to put the cushion that is in his wheelchair on the seat of the dialysis chair. Well, as I learn more and do more, I will share more. For now we will just keep on keeping on! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!