They hadn't set up the machine yet, so I got to d it this time. It's rather mind boggling to me that I don't have to deal with Alcavis, masks, air flow, etc, but I'm tickled about it.
I feel a little more capable after setting the machine up, although I -know- my OCD triggers are gonna fire off ALL the time with so many tubes. I still don't fully grasp the cycle of WHY I'm connecting what tubes to what, but I think that will come with time. I did it with no issues, and that, for me, was heartening.
We got through lots of the book, and while the info is overwhelming in it's vastness, I remember feeling that way with the PD cycler too, so I'm just gonna be patient and move right along. At the top of the above picture, what you see is the actual dialysis machine. The orangey colored tube on the top left is the 'kidney' and it's filled with a bajillion fibres that his blood will run through, then be deposited back CLEAN! The base appears to be a cabinet, but oh no, it's not. :) It's called a PureFlow, and it's where the dialysate (fluid used in the cleaning) resides. This is a big boon, because our old mode of dialysis (and this one until not so long ago) used to require hanging huge bags of dialysate. HUGE. Like, 6 litres, and four bags! Those buggers are heavy as all get out, lemme tell ya.
I did not cannulate him,cause well, it's Day 2, and Super Needle Nurse is creating buttonholes. :) I did, however, pull his needles myself, with no blood spatter! Yay me! Super Needle Nurse once again slid em in like buttah!
I had a brief moment of 'click' today while we were working with the buttons of the machine. I'm comfortable now in documenting things each half hour, but I wasn't really grasping the numbers on the front panel of the machine until it occurred to me that Red= Blood, Yellow = Pee, and well, if we could dye the dialysate green, I'd just be good to go, now wouldn't I? It -is- almost Saint Patricks Day. I think I shall call NxStage with a customer suggestion.
Sadly, the chairs at Wellbound aren't terribly comfortable for a big ole guy, so at one point, we popped some headphones and music in for Hubby and went on without him. His vision isn't good enough to allow him to do most of these things anyhow.
I'm oddly sad to be losing our Baxter delivery guy. He was SO good, and I know from my nurses and from IHD (ihatedialysis.com) that NxStage isn't dedicated carriers, and it typically isn't so great. But, my nurse took me today to show me what our supplies will be, and I will NOT miss having SO. Very. Much. Stuff. I was all agog at the idea of this little pallet of stuff!
We'll be running a water line into our bedroom, because frankly, it's not that big a deal, and the ease with which it will allow me to fill the PureFlow will be wonderful. My father and I ran a drain line through my bedroom floor and into my basement for the Cycler, so that's already in place. You can't see it there, but it saved me from lugging those darn buckets!
Now, to begin rethinking how things are set up in the Medical Bay (aka our bedroom) because the NxStage machine and PureFlow will take up more space, and make it less simple to set up his BiPap machine.
We won't be coming straight home to nocturnal, as our nurse thinks (and I agree) that it'd be easier to first do short daily, then move to overnight a few weeks later. I'm okay with that, and if we get home and feel ready sooner, by golly, that's what we'll do. :)
Booyah for a successful day 2.
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