My computer completely died about a month ago and I am finally back in cyberspace. Hoorah! Does anyone remember me? I feel totally alienated! I have forgotten all my passwords, also! Rats

Some interesting things have been going on at dialysis! I've had trouble with bleeding afterwards, pain during and after, and other such wonderful events. The neph finally sent me to have a venous whatever to map out my access to see if stenosis was present (narrowing of the artery). The test was negative. After the test a nurse applied pressure, but it was oh, so gentle, and felt great. I talked with a nurse at the next dialysis session who was filling in for one of the regulars. She said that some professionals felt that the clamps were not good for you. Oh, really?! No one had ever mentioned that to me! So I've started experimenting and these are my results. Holding the sites myself with minimal pressure, for a minimal amount of time works for me! It works better if I take one needle out and hold it for about 5 min. before taking the second one out. I gently remove the pressure and watch it intently, in case of bleeding. So far, so good.

Today my favorite nurse was there. (All the nurses are great!) His technique just works best for me - one piece of tape and one bandaid per needle during dialysis. I told him I wanted to leave with just bandaids today instead of lots of tape, gauze and cotton balls. And that is exactly what I did. And it worked! I usually come home and take all the tape off and apply bandaids. I live very close to the clinic so there isn't that much extra time leaving the tape on. Some are of the opinion that the more tape and more pressure, the better it works. But, I've never been a partaker of "the norm." I think the problem is because my arms are very, how do I put this delicately, uhhhhh....., flabby. The veins tend to roll, and any pressure tends to undo what it has done.

So, I would suggest for anyone who is experiencing problems to not be afraid to try and experiment with new ideas after exhausting the "norm". I have been on dialysis since May 7, 2007, almost a year. I've asked every analytical question I could think of to try and decide what was going on. I listened to the professionals, and I added my thoughts. And now it is paying off. I hope it is a permanent good thing. If not, I'm still taking it one day at a time.

~Later