Monday - Wednesday - Friday

I knew that when I got older I wanted to have a routine.  Get up at roughly the same time, go to the same place, and talk to the same people.  What i didn't have in mind was that place being a dialysis center, and old being 25.  Dialysis was obviously an option that would only be used to buy me time, a decision that I made months ago to preserve my chances ofT being included on the Tolerance Protocol (the transplant study that i am in and very passionate about, which if you dont already know about it i will cover it here, as it is one of the key reasons that i am doing this blog all together).

I knew that I wasn't feeling good for the past few months, but I didn't realize how "sick" I was until recently.  Now almost 2 full months into my dialysis treatments, I feel better than I think I ever have. As Lauren put it, "Love/hate relationship with dialysis. My boyfriend has energy and I want to go to bed!" hahaha.   I have gotten very lucky in terms of when my treatments are as well.  In and hooked up to the machine by 6:30 and off the machine by 10:15 or so and home to eat in time for The Price is Right, cant beat that !

The reason i had to start dialysis is my kidneys were no longer able to break down the calcium that i took in and distribute it to my body, and as a result i became Hypocalcemic.  A healthy blood calcium level is in the mid to upper 8's and i was down in the 7.2 area.  Seeing how i was taking a calcium supplement and that happened my doctor wasn't pleased and started me on dialysis 2 days after my first hypocalcemic episode. Like the amazing person that she is, Lauren called out of work and spent the day with me, as I obviously wasn't please by this change in my condition, and yes I am very supportive of it now, i wasn't that day.

The dialysis process itself, when you really think about it, is a crazy impressive innovation.  In my case, they put two 14 gauge needles in my arm (hurts way less than one would think) , in whats called a Fistula. A fistula, in the dialysis situation, is when they do a small day surgery and attach the main artery in my arm to a vein in my arm.  For those of you lucky enough to see and feel it would agree that it almost felt like a cell phone vibrating in the bend of my arm. The reason they did this is to make the vein grow so its roughly the same size as the artery so the flow is the same. These needles work to take just about every drop of blood over a 3:45 span passing it through a filter and mixing it with saline and dialysate (A chemical bath used in dialysis to draw fluids and toxins out of the bloodstream and supply electrolytes and other chemicals to the bloodstream.) and puts it back into my body all the while cleaning all the toxins out. Since my kidneys aren't able to break down the food i take in to pull the necessary vitamins and minerals required to feel good, the dialysate puts them in for me. 

The other thing that the dialysis machine does is pulls fluid out of my bloodstream so they bring me down to what they call a dry weight, right now my dry weight is set at 97 kilograms which is around 215lbs.  One way they control my dry weight is limiting the amount of fluid i intake between treatments, right now I am only allowed to have 2 liters a day, as well as limiting other items that i take in, but we will get into my dietary restrictions on another day.  When i have too much of any of the restrictions the machine has to work harder to remove what it needs to which taxes my body and shocks it in a way and i get cramping from head to toe.  On some treatments for example, i have leg and stomach muscles lock up by the time i was done which was extremely uncomfortable, but partly my fault depending on what i take in.

Haven't heard from the team in Boston, in general or in regards to the study.  I plan on reaching out to them this week to check in.  For now I am enjoying my new found energy and looking forward to the holidays with Lauren, my family and friends.