Friday, January 25, 2008
A Clean Room
One of the preparations that need to be made in doing home dialysis is having a clean room. Sounds pretty innocent doesn't it? Well so far some of the definitions I've learned about what they mean by "clean" is: no dust, no pet hair, no air conditioning or heating units in the area. I am not the world's messiest house keeper but neither am I the neatest. Over my 23+ years of marriage the only strife my hubby and I have had is about housecleaning. When company is expected he turns into what I call the "Cleaning Nazi". My problem is deciding where this clean room can be. We have 2 Old English Bulldog Puppies (Sneakers and Reccee) and the nurse has just said I need to make sure they can't get in the room where I'll do the exchanges. For those that are not aware of this type of dialysis, I'll try to explain. Inside of your abdominal cavity is called a peritoneum. A catheter is surgically placed inside of this cavity with tubing of about a foot hanging on the outside of the body. Along this tubing is a valve that allows access to the inside of the body. A certain amount of healing needs to take place for the catheter to set up. Diabetics have problems healing quickly and getting infections easily so this is a major issue with this type of dialysis. What happens after the catheter is at a point to be used, is that I'll go through a week long training process at the Dialysis Center on what I need to do. At the moment my training is set to start on February 11. A bag of dialystic solution is pumped in through the tubing and remains there for a period of time. Each person as I understand it now, is different in how long it remains there. After a period of time, the tubing is hooked up to a bag and if things are working like they should, the fluid drains out and a new bag is pumped in. What happens during the time the solution remains in your body is that it absorbs the toxins that the kidneys would normally filter out. So a person's absorption rate needs to be determined as well as what amount of solution to use. When a new bag is put in and the old bag drained out that is called an "exchange". Some people have to do multiple exchanges a day while others can do it just at night while they sleep. The night time exchange is a little more involved because a machine is used. I haven't learned to much about that method yet. I am interested to see what is going to work best for me. The 64,000 dollar question at this point is where I'm going to have this "Clean Room"
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4 comments:
Pam, I am a friend of Deans (don't spread that around, though). :) I wanted to let you know that I am praying for you to get a kidney ASAP. My brother, Matt, just recently (about two weeks ago) had a kidney transplant. Matt is 23 years old. He has a rare disorder that has destroyed his own kidneys. Thankfully - PRAISE GOD - we have an uncle who matched well enough to be a donor for Matt before he had to go on dialysis! Matt does, however, already have the stent (is that what it's called?) in place for dialysis and he will keep it. Matt may still one day require dialysis and another kidney transplant b/c of his disorder. We are praying that this kidney lasts him longer than the docs expect and we trust it will. After all, Matt did exceedingly above what the doctors could ever have thought during and after the transplant! Why? Because God heard all the prayers lifted on Matt's behalf and He answered them! God will answer the prayers lifted on your behalf as well. Keep the faith, sister!
Oh, I am also a homeschooling Mom, so feel free to talk to me if you ever need to. I'll be sure and try to catch your blog now that I know where to find it. :) Thanks to Dean (again, don't spread that around) ;)
Good to meet you Christy! What wonderful news about Matt. Yes it is called a stent when they are planning to do hemodialysis. My hubby and I will lift him up in prayer for his continued recovery and exceeding the doctor’s expectations. Did he have his surgery in Birmingham? I know the doctors are still perplexed at why I’ve gone this long without needing dialysis. Have always said that prayer works and that I’m living proof. One of the doctors brushed me off and said, “My wife’s an ordained Methodist minister I know all about that prayer stuff”. I so wanted to tell him he needed to know more about the Jesus stuff!
I really appreciate your prayers and emailing me. I haven’t personally met Dean but a contact of his (Preston N) and his wife are good friends of ours. Writing has never been something that came easily to me but for awhile now I’ve felt like God nudging me to do the blog. Finally decided to stop arguing about it with Him and just do it. Don’t you hate when we are made to get out of our comfort zones? I don’t hate the outcomes, just the process of actually getting me there J.
My hubby and I stopped attending The Brook about a year ago now and became part of a home fellowship. While I dearly love the group, lately I’ve really missed the corporate Praise and Worship. My husband has played guitar in the Praise band until about 3 years ago when he decided to go back to college and work on his doctorate. When we started attending The Brook, that was the first time I wasn’t singing on the Praise Team because we had young children at the time and the rehearsal demands were not easily worked with a 1 year old and 3 year old. Now our boys are 7 and 9 years old. How long have you homeschooled? How many children do you have? I think one of God’s biggest jokes is giving Moms sons. I don’t understand how they think (or how they refuse to think). But then I just realize that God probably has the same thoughts about us at times. Well I’m beginning to ramble so I’ll stop now. But thanks again so much.
Have a Blessed Day!
Pam
Pam, Matt had his transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Ctr in Nashville. His local nephrologist is Dr. Broom; do you see him?
I have two kids, Haley is 11 and Dawson is 8. We've homeschooled for six years now.
How many families do you have participating in your home church? My aunt and uncle do the same thing. Their names are Susan and Jerry Wright. I don't know if you would know them or not. I find the idea of home church interesting and enticing at times, but I really do enjoy being part of a bigger fellowship. If I didn't have my church family supporting me like I do I wouldn't be here. I've struggled with depression for years and it's by the grace of God and through the prayers of my church family that I have made it through those dark times. I also enjoying singing w/ the praise band. I haven't had that opportunity in ages, but I'm waiting on God to work out those details for me to sing again.
I hope we get to know one another through this channel of communication and perhaps we can even meet some time. Our kids are the same age and mine always enjoy making new friends.
Remember I'm praying for you daily! :)
Christy
Would love to meet one day! We have 3 families and a college/career young man attend our fellowship. No, I'm sorry I don't know your aunt and uncle. I've never had a local kidney doctor, I've always had to go to Birmingham. Our fellowship was praying for Matt tonight in his continued recovery from his transplant. My kids too are always interested in making new friends. Your prayers as well as everyone else's are working! These past 2 days I actually couldn't tell I had Herman coming out of my side :).
Pam
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