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OK, now what? - Dialysis Tips

Apr 28

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For me, once I was told I needed to go on dialysis, I spiraled into anger. I was mad at the situation, mad at the world and most of all, mad at the anti-rejection medications I must take to survive, ultimately leading to my kidney's decline. Then, there was uncontrollable crying followed by a million apologies to my husband for being a burden. I think I went through all the phases of grief even though no one had died.


So, now what? The doctor sent me the name of a vascular surgeon and said to schedule surgery for a catheter. So, I googled what it was and panic set in. They're going to put something in my chest that connects to my heart...and there will be a tube hanging out of my body. Then I read on.....no showers, don't get it wet, don't pull it out, and it can easily get infected. It sounded dangerous and extremely uncomfortable.


Surgery was scheduled and the procedure was quick. Did it hurt? A little. I was mainly sore afterwards. Of course, it's all covered up so you can't see what it looks like, but I thought something might have been wrong...it just looked like there was a lot of blood on the bandages and I had to keep changing the gauze. (WARNING: gross picture below!) I went to bed but woke up in a blood-soaked shirt and my hair was drenched with blood, so I decided to make a quick run to the ER to have it checked out.


My blood wasn't clotting around the incision where the tube was hanging out. So, the ER took the dressing off, put a clotting agent on it and redressed it. It immediately stopped bleeding. (As a result, my hemoglobin dropped from a 7 to a 5.6 and it also required the need for blood transfusion.)


My advice, if something doesn't look or feel right, get it checked quickly!


Aftermath of chest catheter surgery
Aftermath of chest catheter surgery

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