Drunkard's Walk Forums

I'm starting dialysis tomorrow morning, first thing. As it's being handled on an emergency basis to start, I"m going to get the line in the artery for the short term. Once the fistula operation's healed, the line comes out and I switch to standard hemodialysis.

I'm really looking forward to doing this at this point. There's this constant feeling of "heaviness" in my limbs these days, I'm frequently nauseous, and have to fight to keep food down. Hopefully these things will start to become history as they put me through dialysis regularly.

Once I'm stable and on regular dialysis, I'll be on the list for transplant. As I've got the universal recipient blood type, I'm in a good position to get a kidney. Time will tell how long that takes. For now, I'm just going to focus on the next month or so.

Good luck with it all, Ian. Here's hoping you'll be feeling much better soon.

And now I know why you haven't been answering my emails... Here's hoping your wait for a transplant won't be too long.

Indeed, warm winds and fair fortune to you.

My prayers on your swift recovery.

good luck!

Hugs.

Best wishes.

Best of luck.

Thoughts-and-prayers-related program activities.

So, first couple times so far. Third tomorrow. They're ramping me up slowly. Today was 3 hours, tomorrow, 4. Then it's T-W-S in the mornings for the forseeable future. On the other hand, it beats the alternative, and I'm in a good place for transplant, physically speaking. So that's possible too. I'll get more when I speak with the team I'll be working with tomorrow onward.

At the moment, I have a catheter in my chest. It's about as painful as it sounds, although as long as I don't move pretty much in any direction I can forget its there for long stretches. I'm hoping to get the fistula operation in the arm, as they'll be able to take this thing out of my chest then, and I'll be able to do things like take showers and go swimming again. (Okay, not much call for swimming in the winter, but I miss hot showers already. The thought of months of sponge baths is horrendous...)

In the meantime, I'm trying to adjust as best I can. Not sure what I'll do job-wise going forward. The law clerk job ended, so I'll probably have to do something work-from-home in the future. Since I'm only available in the afternoons on weekdays for work, that pretty much limits me to part time. Not sure what I"ll do yet. We'll see what my options are in the new year.