Better Heart Rate

I had a good dialysis treatment on Tuesday. My heart rate at the end of my treatment was only 121 (which was way better than the 250+ from Saturday). About the only complaint that I have about Tuesday’s treatment was that it was slow. I noticed that the lady next to me (Elizabeth) and I had been swapped. I normally sit in the middle and she usually sits on the end. This meant that our regular technician must not have been there (which can be good or bad). I like the technician that I’ve had the last few weeks. She does a good job with the sticks and always remembers the way I like the tape on my arm. So I arrived at the clinic at about 4:20. I saw Elizabeth standing around waiting to be hooked up, so I went and stood at my chair. I did not get started with my treatment until 4:40. It was about 15 minutes before the tech had a chance to get over and get me started. I am guessing that they were short-handed, so I was not angry with them. It’s just sad to start later because that means that I don’t get home until later.

Okay, I get lots of e-mail about my dialysis and comments on my blog. I enjoyed answering the last on one the main page, so here I go again:

http://nmccart.blogspot.com/2005/11/high-heart-rate-on-saturday.html


COMMENT:
At 7:10pm, Barbara said…

Nathan,
I am sorry that the radiologist did not have the surgeon fix your catheter the same day. I was glad to hear that they found the problem and you didn't have to use a perm cath. I am a little worried about your heart rate being so high normal pulse is 60 to 90. If your pulse stays high and you get a head ache, vision changes or anything like shortness of breath please go to the ER ASAP. Please address it with your doc @ the unit as well. I'll try to ask my docs tomorrow why your heart rate went up so high @ end of treatment and after it. I'll say a prayer for you to! Barbara

Luckily, the only real problem that I noticed with my heart rate was that I was a little dizzy, which happens anyway sometimes when I stand up. I did not have any further problems over the weekend, which was nice. The doctor was not at the clinic on Tuesday, so I will try and talk with him about my heart rate on Thursday (if he is there).

In other news, I called the vascular surgeon’s office yesterday and spoke to his nurse. She said she would check my chart and get back with me. She never called back, so I will try and get in touch with her again Thursday (the next day he has office hours) and try to find some answers.

I have also had a couple of people ask me for some pictures to have a better idea what the dialysis machine looks like. I took a couple of pictures with my phone, and I am going to attempt to put them up here. Enjoy!

This is my fistula arm. It is taped up to keep the needles in place so I don’t lose all my blood.

This is the dialysis machine. The picture is from Tuesday, so you can see one chair to my right. Also, be in awe of my mighty Microsoft Paint skills.