Surprise
After all this time getting dialyzed, there are still surprises out there. A couple of weeks ago, it was the flood of blood that was unleashed after I thought the needle site had clotted. This week it was major clotting going on inside the dialysis machine.
They give generous amounts of Heparin to prevent clotting during the process, but apparently, its not enough. For the past two weeks, they've been using two needles on me and after about 2 hours, the machine starts beeping incessantly. The techs mess with the needles; pushing, prodding, rotating, like some kind of sharp stainless TV antenna. I half expect them to get out the tin foil. "Hold it right there Leslie, I'm picking up Ed Sullivan"
Soon, they'll be increasing the size of the needle that they use from painful to really painful. I'm hopeful I can convince the doctor to pull this catheter out of my chest the next time I see her, since the dialysis is going so well. In reality, she'll probably send me to the hospital for them to remove it, but you get the idea.
