Home Hemo Training is going very well. Placing the needles is a lot less painful when you do it yourself, I wish they'd told me that earlier on. When I started on Monday, they dumped a ton of 3 ring binders and paperwork on me. I was able to get through most of it Monday night and finished the rest on Tuesday. They started quizzing me on the material on Wednesday. I think Thursday we'll cover possible complications and emergency procedures. It's supposed to take 3 weeks to cover all this material and we've done it in one week.

They won't graduate me early, but they are very impressed. Honestly, my home entertainment system is much more complicated to wire up and operate than the dialysis machine. I'm really looking forward to the freedom this NXSTAGE dialysis machine will provide. Already I can see a benefit, the treatment times are shorter, so it's much easier for me to tolerate. I don't care that it's more days per week, what matters to me is how long I'm stuck in the chair. Four hours in a chair at the dialysis clinic feels like forever.

Labels: NXSTAGE System One

Today was the first day of Home Hemo training. ABL stuck me first for the arterial line and it hurt pretty bad. I'm pretty sure she went through the vein, the tech teaching us backed the needle out and reinserted it. I got mine in on the first shot and it didn't hurt as much. Apparently, slow and gentle is the way to go.

I could "taste" the difference between this machine and the in-center machine. It was a very weird sensation. Everything calmed down though and the treatment was uneventful. We only took off 3 kilos even though I was 4.5 kilos heavy. I can normally handle the removal of up to 5 kilos, it's not good for the body, so they like to do a max of 3 kilos. We'll get the rest off tomorrow.

I found some good chestnuts among the literature.
"It was rapidly determined that once weekly dialysis was fatal and twice weekly dialysis just took longer to reach the same outcome." Can you imagine being the first person to do dialysis?
Doctor: We think once a week should do it.
(Two weeks later patient A dies)
Doctor: My bad, maybe we should try twice a week for the next guy.
(4 weeks later patient B dies)
Doctor: My bad, maybe we should try three times a week for the next guy.
(Patient C survives)
Doctor: Finally success! you're still alive. Ok that will be the new standard three times a week.
You'd think they'd start at seven days a week and work down to 3 days a week. The brochure with the machine cites 131 studies that show more frequent dialysis is better for the patient.

The User's Guide for the Dialysis machine says that the pumps "may produce electrostatic charges" during operation...lucky for me, they are not hazardous. Although this ominous warning pops up later: "Non-Medical electrical equipment should not be used within 6 feet of the NXSTAGE System One" "such as a TV". And the warning was repeated, "Do not touch the NXSTAGE System One and and electronic device (such as a TV) at the same time." I'm wondering if I'll be able to use my laptop because there is also a "Recommended Separation Distance" for devices that emit RF signals.

Labels: NXSTAGE System One