The Pain of the Holidays

I'm still in a good bit of pain. No strength in my muscles, therefore I'm shaky. Got to keep going. Elizabeth and Janie came and helped out Satuday, and Elizabeth came again Sunday afternoon. My living room looks wonderful, some of the presents are wrapped, But still have cleaning, cooking and heaven knows what else. My lower back, hips, knees, shoulders, head, legs, and feet all hurt! Doesn't leave much out, does it?

On the upside, dialysis went really good yesterday. I think we've figured out what is causing some of the bleeding. Because the center closes on Christmas, everything gets re-scheduled. Instead of Monday, I went Sunday. I swapped times with someone so I wouldn't miss church. I got up at 5:00 AM so I could get to dialysis at 6:00 and be through in time to attend. The choir was scheduled to sing their Christmas musical song, O Holy Night, where Emily sang the lead solo. A substantial portion of the choir was absent so the leader thought it best not to sing it as it's such a difficult song. Oh well, the best laid plans....... I did, however, get to enjoy Emily's solo, "One King", at our candlelight service Sunday night. It was beautiful as always.

Well, I must attack my day. ~Later

Wednesday dialysis

I have been really sore for the past week or so; hips, neck, legs, everywhere. There is a reason for that, of course, and it was well worth it all. Friday after I finished with dialysis (I went in at 6:00 AM. argh!) When I got through and packed, Kathy and Corey drove me to Columbia to meet up with Emily who had to take a final that morning. I had first planned to drive myself, but since I've been bleeding fairly often after dialysis, I thought it might not be very prudent to do so. It worked out well. We had lunch at the Siberian Internet Cafe which was a really neat place. *** I suddenly realize this is turning into more journaling than just medical but I'm on a roll so I'm going for it.

Kathy and Corey drove Emily's car back home and Emily and I took off, headed for Crossville. We always have fun whatever we do and this was no exception. By the time we got checked in and made sure we could find the Play House without any trouble it was dark and time for nourishment, which we took care of at Ruby Tuesday's. We were pretty tired but couldn't waste a perfectly good night, so we found the cinema and bought tickets for Alvin and the Chipmunks! A really cute movie. We had about an hour to kill so we went to K-Mart close by as we don't get to go there much. I was hoping to find just all kinds of good stuff, and they certainly had the "stuff" but none that fit my needs for Christmas. After the movie Emily went for a swim in their indoor pool. I life-guarded. She could have drowned if I hadn't. heehee!

Saturday morning we packed up and checked out and headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. By the time we finished, looked around and left it was about an hour before our 2:30 PM show. So we just parked in the parking lot and talked. We do some of our best talking in parking lots, y'all!

We saw the stage production of "Oliver" and it was one of the best I've seen. And learned that there are some very intersting shows coming in the near future. Beauty and the Beast in coming again. We saw it a year or so ago and it was so great! I can't remember what time we got out, it was getting dusky dark when we headed for home. We weren't ready to give it up yet, so we got directions for an outlet mall in Mount Juliet. As we were approaching the area we spotted an Olive Garden Restaurant!!! omigosh!!! It was a sign! So we stopped. But, it was Saturday night and the place was packed. They said there was an hour wait, but we were not to be put off. We took our little signal light and went shopping for a few minutes. We got back and dined and relaxed and it was fabulous! ahhhhh! Then we were ready to shop some more. Not too long though. We had to get home, darn it! And it rained a lot and was very windy, which made for a difficult drive. Therefore, part of the reason for this post and why I am sore. Ha Ha Thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? Then there was the usual sitting 4 hours at church Sunday AM and PM, the meal sitting (I hate folding chairs), and busy afternoon making finger foods, playing with grandchildren, etc. So, Mondays are always a little rough, but I don't expect too much and just take it kind of easy at dialysis. It went fine. I even had a visitor which is a super plus at dialysis! Then, when they took me off, after clamp time, I stood up and proceeded to create a major crime scene! Rats! But everything is fine now. Thus, my adventures for the past weekend! Whew!

That's all for now! ~Later

Interesting Day!

It was a rough day at dialysis today. It went normally for most of the time but toward the end I started feeling very strangely which signals that my blood pressure has taken a nose dive. They got that straightened out and then my feet, ankle and calves started cramping big time. They have cramped before but not like this. It just wasn't letting up. It lasted long enough that I was getting a little sick. I only had about 5 minutes left on the machine so they took me off. It was still a few minutes before I could stand up. Two kilos of fluid removal is about my limit. I overdid it with the salt and other stuff over the weekend and my weight gain was a little high. Not real bad, but I guess that is a relative term. The effects were high so that is what counts. I was pretty wiped out.

Educational Posts Coming!

I'm putting together information here that relates to my experience with PKD and dialysis. The above photo is a dialysis chair and dialysis unit. This is very similar to where I go except we don't have dividing curtains between units. There are about 10 chairs at our center and they run three shifts.

Guess I Need to Be Kept Humble!

I didn't write about the rest of my excitement Friday at dialysis. I was feeling really chipper after the Dr. gave me the additional 15 minutes, so when my time was up and they had the clamps on, I got up and put my pillows away, zipped 'em up, etc. I knew better than to be moving around doing stuff before my 15 min. clamp time. Made it fine until I got out to the car and started to put my stuff in the trunk, and then Old Faithful gushed forth. You have to immediately put pressure on it, which I did and then went back in for another 15 min. clamp on that particular site. Later when Emily came by the house, she came in and said, "What happened? It looks like a crime scene out there on your bumper!" Sure enough, I had dripped onto the bumper. Fine. I cleaned it up.

Today I made sure I didn't move for 15 min. with the clamps. But my access hurt anyway, but I thought it was no big deal. I got packed up without using my left arm, went to the lobby and called William and said I was ready. Hung up. Stood up....and proceeded to create a major crime scene in the lobby! Don't know what is going on with that, but experience is the best teacher. Any kind of pain or discomfort should always be addressed immediately! Evidently, the clamps were not positioned "just right" so the access could heal itself over. How many times will it take before I learn not to take anything for granted? I think I might remember from now on.