Being Hooked Up To A Machine

Friday night Sandra hooked up to the machine for the first time. I wasn't even there when she did it. She is a quick learner. The dog (Buddy) went crazy, I think he thought that the machine was attacking Sandra, because there are several beeps before the machine gets going. I guess we have to give it a name, as it will be a part of our family until Sandra gets a transplant. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If/when she travels, the only thing she will need to take with her is the cycler/machine...it is about the size of a photo copier. The company that delivers her supplies, will deliver anywhere in the world. We were worried about her not being able to go out at night anymore, but she can still do her manual dialysis in case she goes out. Or she can set up everything on the cycler before she goes out, so everything is ready for her to hook up when she gets home. There is not an exact schedule, as long as she dialyses for ten hours every night. Another change is that she is now only carrying one liter of fluid in her belly during the day, instead of two, which will make the size of her belly go down a bit and, make her feel less bloated. Poor thing, she looks like she is about four months pregnant. It does not take much for someone as tiny as Sandra is. Until next time, Christina. PS. don't forget to suggest a name for our new family member.

Latest Experience On The Learning Curve

Yesterday, Sandra, and I spent the whole day at the Home Dialysis Clinic. As Sandra has now graduated to the Peritoneal Dialysis Cycler, the Cycler will do the dialysis at night while Sandra is sleeping. She will be hooked up to the machine for ten hours every night. The whole training experience was a bit overwhelming, and intimitating for me. It started off with a lot of tests, which left Sandra in severe pain. At one point she couldn't even breeze. I almost felt like running out of the room, as it is so hard to see her in so much pain. I also have to mention that Sandra's veins are very small, so every blood test is a procedure in it self. They usually start out trying to get blood from the arm, but end up having to do it in her hand....one time they even had to do it from her groin. Last week, she got all the supplies delivered, there is 90 boxes in the house now, but they still had to take 30 back, as there is no room. There are boxes everywhere, including the bedrooms, and upstairs hallway. She is supposed to have a delivery every six weeks, but if this is the size of it, she will have to switch to bi-weekly as Sandra does not want to have her daughter reminded of her disease every step she takes in the home. I want you all to know that in spite of all this, Sandra is a real trooper, and as sweet as ever.

At The Transplant Clinic

Last Tuesday we went to the transplant clinic to meet the transplant team. The news was good as far as they were concerned. Sandra does not require any more tests to find out if she will be able to handle transplant surgery. The only thing left to do, is to test her blood for antibodies which determines how well her body will tolerate a new organ, without rejecting it. Antibodies are created by prior blood transfusions, or in women, prior pregnancies. The antibodies can cause the body to reject an organ, even if the organ comes from someone who is a blood match with the recipient. We also had some very good news, we were told that there are a few potential living donors for Sandra. However, we can not be told who they are, due to confidentiality policy. Sandra, being who she is, is now very concerned about the potential donor. She asked the doctors' how long she would be able to stay on dialysis, because what if the donor gets sick, and needs his/her kidney in the future, or if a family member of the donor would need a kidney further down the road? She was told that now is the best time for her to have the transplant, before she gets any sicker, or suffers all the complications that comes with dialysis. She was told that she will have at the most, a honeymoon period, on dialysis for two years. Dialysis is never a cure, neither is a transplant, but in Sandra's case, a transplant is the best/only option. Hopefully, the potential donors' follow my updates here, so I can thank you from the bottom of my heart.