Well, that’s it, 4 days training on the unit, machine installed on day 5, and four more days ‘with care’ and guidance in my office, and now I’m flying solo! I’ve pleased with the way the training has gone, very thorough and informative. The last three days I’ve been left to my own devices to get on and off etc, and have had an ‘opportunity’ to test a few alarms (mainly because I made a mistake!). Very easy to rectify. One thing I am still nervous about is trapping the air in the system if you get an arterial air detection. The advice is to run the pump at normal rates until the air is seen in the top of the dialyser. My natural inclination is to run the pump at a slower speed for this action to ensure I capture the air correctly – even though any air would then get detected by the venous sensor en-route. Other than that, all is well and I am very pleased to be able to crack on with life, working while I dialyse.
Thankfully, I have never felt bad or tired on or after dialysis, but have noticed that if I go two days break after doing daily dialysis, then I feel ready to dialyse again. To add to that I notice when I get up in the morning I feel brighter and more energised. So, probably right to say I had become acclimatised to how I felt and thought everything was normal. Don’t mind being proved wrong on this!!
It would be easy to get carried away by the euphoria of finally getting back home again on hemo, but I am confident in saying that the support from NxStage, Kimal and Peterborough Unit (without naming names) has been excellent. Nothing has been too much trouble, and the feeling of ongoing support is very strong. Top Notch!
On the issue of working while dialysing, I am working at a great rate, getting lots done, concentration is good, and it’s all very straightforward, the lines are long enough, and everything is to hand – I can quite recommend it if you work from home. Trips into London etc for meetings are easily accommodated, and I have great flexibility around time of day to dialyse etc.
There will be pictures, soon, apparently. Not by me, but a budding David Bailey on the training ‘team’!
