Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Well, it’s Tuesday morning and, if you have been reading along, you will know that I still have the perm-cath in my chest. The nephrologist did not come by dialysis last week (at all), so I am hoping that he will be by at least once this week. If I get to see him, then maybe he can schedule an appointment for me to have this catheter removed and let me go back to my dialysis-normal life.

I used 17-guage (small) needles the first week that I went back to my fistula. Then, last week, I was up to 16-guage needles. Today, I am wondering if they are going to finally put me back on 15-guage needles (the largest size we use at our clinic). Once they have used the 15-guage needles on my fistula at full speed for a couple of days, then they will test my flow rate to see if my revision put me over 400. My old rate was under 300, which was not what they wanted. The higher the flow rate, the better possibility you have for dialysis. So, it should be back to larger holes in my arm today (which is always great, don’t you know).

I joined a few dialysis e-mail groups last week. Now, every time I open up my Inbox, it is filled with messages from people who are on (or know people on) dialysis. There has not been a lot yet that has been useful to me, but I am hoping to learn more from this community of people that are going through the same experiences as I am. That is kind of why I write this blog. I want to share my experiences with others and help them to see what I go through and how God helps me through it.

Speaking of which, please continue to pray about my transplant. If God does not have healing planned for me, I would love to get a new (well, used) kidney. Since my approval is complete, all I am waiting for now is for my potential donors to get tested and find out if someone can donate. I know that God has a perfect plan laid out for me; I just have to wait and see what it is. Help pray that I am patient during this waiting.

Thanks for coming by to read today! Enjoy your dialysis-free evening.