Saturday, September 7, 2013

Tie me down

    Dad's arm looks horrible, but it's just dried blood under the skin. He had previously had his dialysis access in his left (off) arm, but when that failed they put the new one in his right (main) arm. He's supposed to keep it still for the entire 3-4 hours of dialysis. You try that some time. The problem is that eventually he falls asleep, and obviously can't control whether or not he moves his arm. In your sleep, you're probably more likely to move your dominant arm if you move one.
    He asked them to tie the arm down, but they said that they can't restrain patients. I guess they could come check on him and make sure that he's awake, but they would have to do so pretty frequently. He still has the catheter on his chest as well and they're still using it. Apparently, they run the blood out through his arm and in through the catheter. He says the catheter doesn't work well but it works. I was hoping they could just use only the catheter, but I guess it isn't an option. I'm expecting another trip to the Access Center for further adjustments soon. But hopefully they can make this work.
    As much as I've whined about the weather, I should probably note that it's absolutely superlative today. Yes!

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