Our Plants are Happy!

We had a really good rain this morning...one that lasted more than five or trn minutes. Our plsnts are much happier with God's watering than with mine! And, I'm extra happy not to have to do the watering task. Our hemodialysis training went very well today...we didnso many learning modules last week that we just had a few things to review. We went through more of the setup steps by ourselves before the nurse got here. We are gradually working up to being able to set it all up amd get him attached and up and running all by ourselves. Today went very smoothly and even when the nurse was here, I was able to get most things going without input from the nurse. So we are gradually building up to being on our own. Tomorrow the plan is for me to have Woody ready to be connected when the nurse gets here...we'll see! Woody is at prayer meeting. It is nice not to have to set up for PD while he is there! I did quickly vacuum "his" room while he is gone. Hapoy August! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A More Normal Day!

It was nice to have a more normal day. We both slept better last night. It was nice not to have someone coming to our door at 7am! Woody did quite a bit of napping throughout the day. He seemed more awake as the day went on. He has eaten better today...eggs for breakfast...meatloaf sandwich and a small helping of green beans and half of a peach for lunch. Then he had a peach shake for supper. That's the first time that he has had a shake in a while. I only used half of one of his high protein drinks so it wasn't too much for him to finish. I had frozen some slices of fresh peach to use in the shake. He was watching TV and playing solitaire when I came upstairs. I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen today...have dirtied up a lot of pots and pans. I have done everything from cooking fresh veggies to sautéing mushrooms to freeze for Woody's eggs to making chicken broth (I was out and was able to clear something out of the freezer...a chicken carcas...the last time I stewed a chicken, I didn't need broth so froze the carcus for the next time I needed some...and today was that day! My dishwasher is running and it will probably be filled up again once it is finished and I have emptied it. I still need to put together the ground pork and herbs, etc. to make Woody's breakfast sausage. I will just mix the meat mixture up tonight and let flavors blend overnight (in other words:I don't feel like making and cooking the patties tonight!). And, I need to put the cooked mushrooms into snack baggies and put them in the freezer...that way all I have to do is pop them in the frying pan and warm them up in the olive oil I cook his eggs in. So lots of cooking today, but will help me un the long run when I can pull some of these things out that are ready to use! It was good to do just what I felt like doing today and barely think about dialysis! I will get back to dialysis duties tomorrow when I make the batch of dialysate and make up packets of supplies for each day of next week. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Friday…At Last

I don't have a lot to say about today, except that I am glad it is Friday and that dialysis is sort of behind us for two days! The reason that I say it is "sort of" behind us is that I will have to make a batch of dialysate sometime on Sunday so we will have it on Monday. Our nurse will be back from vacation on Monday and we will stop our 7am starts and go back to 8:30am. "Things" went fairly well today...I only dropped a few things, etc., etc. It's making more sense...but once something starts making sense some other piece of information is added in to once again confuse the situation! I had to give him his iron injection today...it is administered through one of the lines while he is having dialysis...close to the end of the dialysis time. Woody isn't feeling the greatest tonight...he hasn't been getting sick lately...only once last week and then twicr today. I wish I could remember which day he got sick. I am wondering if it was the day that he got iron last week. I'm wondering if that injection made him get nauseous. I will note what happened today and see if it happens again next week on the day he gets iron. We did discover that the barch leaked when we were finished today. It didn't sound an alarm. Now I'm wondering what I might not have tightened enough...the nurse couldn't find the problem. So we don't know if it wqs my fault or just a quirk. But I will be sure to doiboe check every connection that I make to see that they are tight. There are just TOO MANY things to keep track of. We were supposed to get a welcoming call from the folk that make the dialysis machine. The call came through, but we were in the midst of a step that wouodn't let us answer the phone. The nurse called them and arranged for this call to come at a later time today, but it never rang again. I finally decided that they weren't going to call today so made a quick trip to the store down the street and got the ground pork that I use to make Woody's breakfast sausage. Woody decided it was time to move to the couch while Inwas gone and he has been asleep since I got back. He even slept through a visit with Nathan and Kathy. Nathan removed the squirrel from our chimney flue. Yay! Thanks, Nathan! And,mwe stood in the family room looking ar dialysis equipment and supplies and talked about dialysis and to my knowledge, he doesn't know that they were here. I'll find out when I go downstairs...that is, if he is awake. I did actually pick up my stitching and put in a few stitches just before I decided to blog. I haven't felt like stitching since dialysis training/duties began. Hopefully we can both get rested over the weekend on our "break." Once we are on our own we won't have two days in a row. We will choose the days we want to have off. At the moment, we know that we want Sunday off and then probably Wednesday, as that will split the week up best...it's best for a dialysis patient to have fairly regular treatments without a long gap (even 2 days) between treatments. We are on a 5 day in a row schedile now because of the work week for the nurses. Once we are on our own it is up to us how to get his 5 days of dialysis in each week. He is on the dialysis machine for a little more than 3 hours each treatment...but there are a lot of other things that go on before and after that it makes the time longer...at least for me! It is definitely an "experience" that we never dreamed that we would be having. My mind continues to be boggled at all there is to do...from set up to take down to maintenance...and, on and on! Since we are in our own home we don't have to mask the whole time...though, the poor nurse does have to. But I have found out that it is probably best to just stayed masked, because then I don't have to remember the times when I have to mask! One less thing to have to remember! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

First Day in Home

Well, that first day of doing hemodialysis at home has come and gone. And, we both survived! We had a few glitches due to getting equipment set up...like the iPad and the dialysis machine connecting to one another. Our nurse made a couple of calls to tech folk and got them resloved enough for us to proceed! Tomorrow I am to get things started to a certain point before thr nurse gets here...little by little the process is getting turned over to me. What I'm doing tomorrow doesn't have anything to do with connecting Woody to his machine...just getting us up to that point. Tomorrow will mark the first time we have gotten five treatments in in a week. We're both ready for two days off! I would say that both of us were tired after today's treatment. I know that I took a good enough nap that I woke up at 6:40 and thought that it was tomorrow morning...and that I hadn't gotten Woody's breakfast and also had to start setting up the machine before the nurse got here at 7am...luckily it was still today! Now to remember to set the alarm for waking up at the right time in the "real" tomorrow! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Out With the Old…In With the New!

It has been quite a day! We headed out bright and early for our last day of training at the center. Not long after I got Woody's dialysis going, our Fresenius pick-up called to say that he would be at our house in 20 minutes. Perfect timing...I headed off and got home about 5 minutes before the truck pulled up in front of our house. The boxes were out of the house very quickly and once the pallet was out of the driveway, I was on my way back. I wasn't even gone an hour. Once again, Woody's treatment went well. When he was finished we got the machine ready to be brought to us. That was also a quick job...no more than 15 minutes. One of my jobs before tomorrow was to make a batch of dialysate...that was an adventure...first, I didn't have the bag that it is made in. So I had to call our nurse so she could tell our PD nurse what I needed and then I headed off to the center (we only thought that this morning was the last time for a while of us going to the center! I got what I needed and headed home to make the first batch on my own! That was interesting to say the least...Woody not happy with the instructions! In the end I guess I had to call the nurse twice about the process...first off was how to turn it on...as it had always been on when I had done it at the center and the on/off button was hidden...I finally found it with the nirse directing me over the phone and me getting down on my knees! Then there was one other place that the directions confused me by asking me to take something off...something that we take off earlier in the process and I didn't know what that was called! We finally got the batch making! It takes 6-7 hours...to fill the bag with 25 liters of cold water and then for it to heat up. It is in the middle of the process. I hope the machine doesn't disturb Woody's sleep...new noises can be disturbing. I have supplies organized for tomorrow's treatment. Now hopefully we will both get a good night's sleep so we will be ready to get going once the nurse arrives...several technical things we have to do like plug something into our router so the iPad that is the way we chart all the statistics about each treatment and it is sent directly to the nurses. That way they can keep their eyes on us even when they aren't here! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Stifling!

You can just avout cut the atmosphere with a knife! I just took the garbage out to the road for tomorrow's pick up...and...Oh,my! I dread going out to water. I'm planning to do that as close to dark as possible...but still be able to see my way around the yard! We made it through another day of training...just one more day of training in the center. I have been going through supplies and organizing them better...putting away duplicate boxes of items, etc. I plan to make some "packets" of the supplies that we use during the day so they will be ready for Thursday and Friday. I came home with a list of what goes in them and will try to make up two to see if I get everything in them before making up an entire weeks worth! Tomorrow after treatment is through, their tech guy will bring over our dialysis machine and he will get it up and running...hooked both to the internet and our water system...and, I don't know what else he will do. We also aere scheduled for pick up of our unopened peritoneal dialysis supplies...lots of boxes. That pick up is scheduled between 8pm and noon. They call at least 15 minutes before the truck arrives. I asked our nurse if I could go home when he calls and then go back to center when he leaves. She said I could. So I will probably be playing hooky for a little while from training! Best part of my day...I got my hair cut this afternoon! Yay! On the way home from my haircut I stopped and got gas. It has been a busy day. Woody is already settled in for the night on the couch/his bed. I will go down and work some more on the hemodialysis supplies. I have to put a sign on 4 boxes that the pick-up guy isn't supposed to take. I'm not quite ready to put them in the family room as I want to put them on the fireplace hearth...and...we have an uninvited guest in the flue of the chumney. (more rolling eyes inserted here!) Nathan will come to our rescue a little later in the week or whenever the time is appropriate. I am not appreciative of the timing of this drop-in visitor! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Quarter of a Century…Surely Not!!

It is hard to believe that we have another grandchild who has made it to the quarter century mark! But Alex did just that today. Tonight's photo is from his preschool graduation. A lot of water under the bridge since I snapped that ohoto so many years ago! Today was another busy day at home hemodialysis training. We're getting closer to being at home...just two more days on in-center training. We started bright and early which meant that we got away a little earlier than we have been...but still out in about six hours at the center. We were both very ready to head home! Today we "learned" about different alarm numbers and colors and what they mean...thank goodness for a book that I can look back over as I doubt that I even remember one of the alarms! I did learn that a red alarm stops the machine so need to get it solved as quickly as possible so blood doesn't clot in the lines! I drew blood, again, to check his hemoglobin and his potassium...both are too low. I got a lot accomoplished over the weekend and Woody's living/dialysis area in the house is looking better and cleaner. I ooened all the boxes of supplies and inventoried them from the shipping list and put them all in the family room/Woody's room on the card table and rolling cart. I will wait to organize them better once the nusrse is here...she said she would help get them in places easiest for me to access. A lot of the supplies were ordered in duplicate...so duplicates will be stored on the shelves at the back of the closet...I think. Woody went to prayer meeting at church tonught and is now back home settling in before it is time to go to bed. We're both tired. Hopefully we will sleep well tonight. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!