I am doing well on dialysis. I go three times a week. It has
become a part of my life, which I am okay with overall, but sometimes it is
frustrating because there are many things I have not been able to do or go to
because of the time it takes. It is not all bad, though. I was complaining one
time about how I have so much less family time because of dialysis, and my son
said, “But we have family time Tuesdays and Thursdays!” My husband and kids
come on those two days and we often play a game or two. They have become
evenings my kids look forward to - so long as they can agree on the game we
will play!
We have discovered there are quite a few different games we
can play at dialysis. The nurses are really nice and allow me to have an extra
table for my schoolwork or for my family. A lot of the people at dialysis watch
TV, but I rarely ever do. I am usually on the computer, reading, or playing
games with my family. One of the nurses commented that she had never seen a
family with as many interesting games as we have. We are kind of geeky that
way. Some of the games we currently have in our bag to bring to dialysis:
Monopoly Deal, Munchkin, Bohnanza (although we have to get creative with the
space), Ablaze!, Vizia, Flux, and Zombie Dice. We have also played Yahtzee,
Settlers of Catan (the board barely fits on the table, so we only did it once
or twice), Talisman (which we only did once. We had to put 3 tables together
for that one, so didn’t do it again), and Savage Worlds (we each had our own
little box for our dice and tokens, etc.). I imagine we could also play games
like Trouble or Parcheesi, but haven’t tried those ones yet.
I am glad that my family has adjusted so well to the time I
have to spend at dialysis. Because it takes so much time, there is the
possibility that I will qualify for a disability benefit. Last year I received
a form for income tax; however, the doctor marked off that my treatments take
less than 14 hours per week. That is not true. I actually calculate on average
I am spending about 15 hours per week at the clinic. While I am hooked up to
the dialysis machine for 4 hours at a time (12 hours per week), it takes time
to get me set up on the machine and then it also takes time after to take me
off and stop the bleeding. Some people are lucky and stop bleeding fairly
quickly. I am not one of those people. I hold my sites for at least 15 minutes
afterward because my bottom site has a
tendency to leak if I don’t. My understanding
is that it is because I have an upper arm A/V Fistula which has more pressure. This year I talked with the social worker and
now have my form showing that my treatments take more the 14 hours per week.
School takes up most of the rest of my time. I am a 2L now.
I have managed to pass all my semesters and maintain my passing average. I
commented to one of my profs that every semester I wonder how I am going to get
everything done, but every semester I manage to get through and pass. I have
also been working on my Mary Kay business, so I will leave you with a dialysis
picture of my reading Applause - the Mary Kay magazine for consultants.
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