Because I had just recently had my dialysis catheter changed, the doctors decided that I should rest the peritoneal dialysis catheter for about 4 weeks so it heals properly and to give my poor body a break. However I am now dependent on dialysis and I need to have dialysis somehow so they fitted me with a temporary line.
The first few days I was in hospital I was very out of it due to the painkillers I was given and I was still in pain despite the painkillers. My bladder did the whole 'trauma shock' thing again and I had to have a urinary catheter placed into my bladder as the muscles didn't know what to do with themselves. I think I was now sporting all the catheters in the world. The urinary one, the peritoneal one and the temporary central line catheter. I should rename this blog to "The Girl With All The Catheters" Ha!
I cannot begin to express the feeling of discomfort I was in, tubes coming out and going into all sorts of places. I was feeling pretty rubbish. Not to mention that I had not had any adequate dialysis for a while so now I was feeling pretty ghastly. However the temporary central line catheter meant that I was now able to start haemodialysis treatment.
Haemodialysis treatment has always scared me a little and I guess I was misled slightly about what it's all about. I was taken to the dialysis unit at Manchester Royal Infirmary which happens to be attached to the ward I was on and it was specifically there for inpatient dialysis. I was still bed bound at this point, so I was wheeled in and introduced to this whole new world of treatment!
The haemodialysis machine is much bigger than the peritoneal dialysis machine and it definitely looks a lot more complicated. However all I had to do was lie there whilst specialist nurses connected me up. I was absolutely delighted to learn that the whole thing was painless. Once I was connected and I saw my blood going into the machine I was relieved that there was no feeling/pain involved.
There has got to be a catch right? However I'm very happy to say that there wasn't really. I was sick the first time but I was being sick anyway. The temporary central line catheter is in the jugular vein leading to the heart and the blood came out easy! So much for all the doctors who struggled getting blood from me for a simple blood tests!
The haemodialysis machine deals with the main supply of blood and it takes a good circuit of blood out of you each time, but then puts it back in so the machine is technically in effect an extra circuit to your blood circulation. This can sometimes mess with your blood pressure so towards the end, my blood pressure dropped dangerously low. However I quite enjoyed the feeling. I felt drunk and out of it. I was slurring my words and looked like a drunk! My poor mum was fretting slightly as she noticed I was fine one minute and the next minute I was so out of it I didn't know who she was. However the nurses slowed the machine rate down and my blood pressure stabilised.
Haemodialysis is normally carried out about 3 times a week as a starting point for new patients, however because I needed the dialysis, I went every other day whilst I was on the ward. The treatment takes 4 hours and about an hour of connecting up and connecting off. However when you're on a hospital ward, getting off the ward to go somewhere else can be a little exciting and gives me a break from the ward monotony.
Not an amazing picture of the haemodialysis machine. But yes, that is my blood in those tubes!
