A Slight Drip

I had another successful dialysis treatment Thursday night. The only problem was that one of my needles started leaking about 20 minutes into my treatment. I think I moved my arm a little too much and must have worked it loose just a little bit. Luckily, it was easy to fix. The technician removed the tape, put an iodine pad under the needle and placed some gauze over the needle to hold it in place. Then she taped it up and I was fine for the rest of the night.

I mentioned on my last post that I am moving forward with the transplant process. The Dallas Pre-Transplant Group sent me a letter confirming my appointment for a “Pre-Transplant Orientation” on December 14. Their note is that no additional appointments will be scheduled until orientation is attended. I am guessing that they will explain what I am to expect in the upcoming weeks and months, and I hope that they will schedule me for my first round of tests. I will let everyone know what I learn after the appointment.

I went to see my family doctor yesterday because I have been feeling sick. I have had a sore throat since Sunday, and Wednesday night I had a fever. So, she took a throat swab and will send it off to test for strep throat. But, since I am in renal failure, she did not want to give me any antibiotics unless she finds a bacterial infection. If I just have a virus, she does not want my body to go through the stress of antibiotics. She said I just need to cough up my mucus and get some rest.

My heart rate after dialysis last night was 130. I know that it is still high, but I have an appointment to see my cardiologist on Monday. I have a packet of information about how I am doing from the dialysis clinic to give her, and hopefully she will be able to figure out what we need to do to get my pulse down.

Also, there was a message on the answering machine when I got home from the vascular surgeon’s office. I called this morning and scheduled an appointment for next week. I spoke to the third nurse/secretary that the surgeon has had since I started seeing him in June. Perhaps the previous nurse/secretary is the reason that it was taking so long to get to see the doctor. Who knows? Oh well …