Dialysis Flash Mob
From 1998
Surgery, hmmmm, what can i say but yuck! One can expect and know it’s needed but for someone to think it’s a drop in the bucket and bing bata boom everything is wonderful, think again. When I need to I can easily go into surgery mode, I’ve learned to. It’s one thing when I have a planned & scheduled surgery, it gives us plenty of time to worry and back out, right? I’ve been there, those are the things both Renee and I wanted to do or at least hope and pray we could but alas, it just doesn’t seem to go that way. Besides, one doesn’t get the 25 surgery’s award pinned to their chest by hiding or running, even if it sounds better.
This particular surgery day had the unusual hurry-must get done immediately pre warning. Before I knew what was going on I was waking up. Even more surprising was as i slowly came to reality I found myself still in the surgery room! This rarely happens, most always I come out of the drug induced semi coma in the recovery room. As the surgery was wrapping up and more people were in the process of giving me my very first dialysis treatment! There were so many doctors and nurses zipping around I thought maybe, another heart & lungs transplant?
I saw my beautiful Renee as she was asking how I was feeling which surprised me as I took mental inventory of my body. Every surgery this is what I do, check my feelings, pain and movement like the beginning of a airplane preparing for takeoff . Something’s different, extra connection and a strangely located hurt, and someone telling me to stop pulling on that huge cord connected to my chest/neck! As it all floods in this is dialysis, two 1/2 hoses plugged into a 10” long hose coming out of me, and it doesn’t feel pleasant.
Dialysis, basically a large machine the size of a medium sized refrigerator that filters blood, a lot of blood. My blood pumps in via one clear line and is pumped back to me in another clear line. The blood filled hoses are almost feeling hot, actually 98.6 degrees, and looks shocking! I’ve seen a fair amount of blood but this is seemingly too much and too organized as I realize this is coming directly out of my body.
This massive movement of blood exchange lasts 31/2 hours this time with regular outpatient dialysis 3x weekly, this isn’t the end of the world but, 3x weekly?
