Well we are investigating a new route with dialysis. David is currently on Hemodialysis. That is where he goes into a center 3 days a week and has 2 (15 gauge...that's really big) needles placed in his fistula and his blood is pulled out, sent through a machine where toxins and extra fluid is pulled out, and then put back into his body. The whole process takes 3.5 hours and there are some side effects such as severe muscle cramping, drop of blood pressure (causing dizziness, sweats, ect.) and severe fatigue. It is really rough on your body.
We are investigating Peritoneal dialysis (PD) which is a dialysis that is done at home. The basics of it is a catheter is placed in the patients abdomen and the patient fills the abdomen (via the catheter) with dialysate (a special fluid), leaves it in there for a while and then drains it back out (via the same catheter). While the fluid is inside the patients abdomen, the toxins that the kidney typically filters are drawn to the fluid and then they are pulled out along with the extra fluid when you drain out through the catheter. (The whole process is probably more complex than that but that is my best understanding at this point).
The perks of PD outweigh the bad. Perks: no fluid restrictions!!!, do it at home, we can travel more easily, no muscle cramping!!!! The bad: risk of infection (since the catheter is a direct line to the abdomen), this is done every day 7 days a week). But like I said...to us the perks out weigh the bad!
To start PD David will have to first have the catheter placed in his abdomen (here is the surgery part of the post title). It is an outpatient surgery (meaning he can go home the same day) but it is a real surgery. Right now the surgery is scheduled for this coming Thursday! wow!!
Once the catheter is placed and healed we (David...and probably me depending on time) will have to go through a few weeks of training on how to do PD at home, and everything that goes along with it. After that.....we are free!!! (well we will be on our own for PD)! We are not completely alone, we will still have a team that will always be there when we need them. A dietician, social worker, doctors, and nurses but David will only have to see them once a month rather than 3 times a week! He will have to go in once a month for his typical labs, but that is no big deal!
The other big change (well it's not really that big) is the amount of supplies we will need. PD has a lot of supplies with it. We will get monthly shipments of all of his supplies so we need to have a place to store them. I was reading a blog of a woman who was on PD and she said she gets 30 boxes of supplies a month!!!! Good thing we have a house!!!
It will be an adjustment, but if all goes well it will be a positive step for us! We will miss dearly our "family" at our current dialysis center. We have really gotten close with the nurses, techs, and doctors, and some of the other patients. But we know that the time that we will now have at home will be worth it. We can always come back and visit! And if things don't work out with PD David has already put in his reservation for his chair (chair 10) at our current center!!!
So right now we are moving forward...but not sure what the near future will be like. It will probably get rough before it gets better but it will be worth it in the end!!
Ultimately David STILL NEEDS A KIDNEY!!!! If you or someone you know feels the urge to donate (even if you are not type O) please let us know! It's a hard thing to ask for but it is necessary in order to be able to put dialysis completely behind us!
In other news....MY SISTER IS IN LABOR AS I AM WRITING THIS!!!!! I can't wait to meet my little (or not so little) nephew!!! I will post pictures when he is born!! (Because you KNOW I have my camera with me!!!)
So hopefully I will update after David has his surgery with how it went. Nothing is a done deal yet..but we are praying things go well!
Thanks for your support, prayers, and love that we have felt from our friends and family through this all! It has been amazing!
~DAB (David and Alice) :)
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