Here we are in our last week at the University of Home Dialysis. (I think we may even graduate after a rocky first week!).
We have been preparing the cottage for our transition from clinic to home. We have two huge 7" deep drawers filled with supplies and we will have 40 boxes of 5 liter bags of dialysite delivered each month. (Dialysite is the solution that surrounds the artificial kidney/cartridge and cleanses the blood of toxins by an osmosis-like process).
I actually am getting excited about being the "Charge Nurse!" In the picture you can see the cycler (dialysis machine) behind me with the 4-5 liter bags of dialysite that are used each treatment session. In the picture, I am about to make the sterile blood connections to Sabine's tunnel catheter that will begin the dialysis process.
We will continue using the tunnel catheter near her neck until the fistula (or graft) is ready to use. This is a surgical technique and will need to heal before it is used.
This weekend between cottage preparations we were able to amble over to the Mazomanie "Gandy Dancer" festival which had a great selection of bluegrass and Cajun music. There also were free one-hour railroad car rides (I will enclose some of the pics we took of the cottage as we went by on the rails!
Wednesday is our meeting with Dr Sheehan and I anticipate some good news with regards to the treatment cycle. The weather has been great -- there really is absolutely no better weather in the world than summers in Wisconsin.
Stay tuned!
