First Go.

Blah!  Well I had my first dialysis treatment this morning and it kind of sucked.  It will take a few weeks for me to start to feel the benefits so for now it just kind of sucks.  The nurses were AMAZING - they made it manageable.  I know it will get easier and it will just become part of my life but I was so excited to feel better I think I left the logistics of how crappy it is out of my thought process.

Before we started the dialysis I had all of my vitals done and they did an ultrasound of my fistula to determine where they were going to put the needles.  They insert two needles into the fistula - one to take the blood out where it can be cleaned by the machine and another needle to put the clean blood back in.  The needle that is supposed to put the clean blood back into me failed, causing massive swelling and a LOT of pain - I thought I was going to pass out but I was able to focus enough on my breathing to make it through it.  They were able to make it work with just the one needle by adding another attachment and the pain subsided.  They put some ice on my arm which helped with the discomfort.  My arm is hella bruised and still quite uncomfortable.

After we got through the initial needle problem, it wasn't too bad.  It wasn't painful which was comforting.  This treatment lasted three hours and other than getting a little antsy the rest of it wasn't too bad.  I will be going back again on Thursday - fingers crossed my arm heals up in that time.

I am absolutely exhausted and a little nauseous.  I'm glad I have the rest of the day off. Nurse Harlow will take good care of me for the rest of the day.  I'm trying to pretend it's raining so I don't feel so bad about staying in bed for the rest of the day.