An Unplanned Day Off

Unplanned days off when it comes to dialysis generally mean trouble/problems. Let's just say it wasn't an enjoyable day off...spent most of with something or other to do with dialysis. About as soon as I got the machine going...which means that his blood is being pumped through the machine...we got an alarm saying that air was detected in the arterial line. I checked the lines and couldn't see any bubbles...so called our nurse. She was at another patient's home, but talked me through what to do. I did what she said and machine got back underway to just start alarming again. After alarms kept happening, the nurse said to just end the treatment and call this a day off and do a treatment tomorrow. I wanted to say "no fair," but didn't! I also have to draw blood work tomorrow and also take a sample of the dialysate to send off for testing. That sample is taken every three months. The other thing that had to be done before tomorrow's treatment was to change the PAK...this is a filter in the PureFlow machine that has to be changed about every three months. This box sits next to the tub where the dialysate bag resides and this box is heavy...the one you pull out is extra heavy as it is full of water...weighs around 35 lbs. It has to be pulled out and up and over the edge of the place it sits in. This is the first time that I had done this maintenance task so nurse said she would stop by and help me. And, she did just that. This new PAK had to prime for 2-1/2 hours before I could make the dialysate batch...which takes six hours to make. It is making as I type this. I hope it doesn't bother Woody. I find it pretty noisy as it pumps water into the sack. Anyway, today's day off equaled a major headache or two for me! The test I have to do for the dialysate has to be put in a special bag and we discovered that I don't have any of those, so the nurse is going to drop one off in the morning before she heads to her other patient's house. We really can't get very far with our treatment as getting that sample is one of the first things to be done. And, then will come the dreaded blood draw...both pre treatment and post. Though, the blood draw isn't all that hard once I gather all the things together...have to draw the tubes in a certain order but the draw is through his access line and the tubes work with a vacuum so each tube "knows" how much to draw up. Woody has to rock the tubes back and forth...then some go in the refrigerator and one gets spun after thirty minutes and then it goes in the refrigerator. I lnly draw one at the end and it just goes in the refrigerator. I have to label all the tibes and the little dialysate bag and get them put in their proper boxes with an ice pack and get the boxes ready for an express Fed Ex pickup. What a day tomorrow will be. Please no alarms added to the fray!!! Woody has mainly sat and listened to alarms and to me not being a happy camper...and done his crosswords, dozed, watched TV and tried to keep warm...it's starting to be that time of year that he will be cold most of the time. Tonight it is supposed to get down close to 40°. Now that is a it chilly! Be safe! Be well! Be caitious!