Oh drinking, how I took you for granted.

I remember going to the 7/11 down the road from my friends house years ago and filling up a huge Big Gulp with some lovely Diet Pepsi. Or pouring myself a nice big cup of milk with my oreo cookies. Stuff I'd do every day and think nothing of it.

You get thirsty you go get something to drink, even if you were on a diet going to get yourself a huge cup of water was a great way to sate your thirst and you didn't have to worry about having to much like you would with food.

I never realized how much I took this for granted until I couldn't do it anymore. Because of my kidney failure and dialysis, I can only have 4-6 cups of fluid a day, cups as in 8oz. If I drink too much I will actually get sick and can cause edema in my heart and lungs, which means a hospital visit.

When I fist started dialysis I didn't really seem to have any issues drinking normally but as time has gone by, it's been harder and harder for me to process my fluids, so they have lowered my fluid intake. It's been driving me NUTS!!! I never realized how hard it was to not take a drink when you were thirsty until I couldn't. I watch TV craving the lovely icy drinks I see the characters sipping, lick my lips when I see a water fountain, and moan when someone gulps a soda.

I realize that this is me whining but I felt like why not put it here for people to understand when I'm sitting eying there drinks when I'm hanging out with them and asking to share a drink with a friend instead of just getting one for myself. Bear with me friends, have fun teasing me with your huge Big Gulps, and let me steal your ice when your done :)

Oh and never take for granted how nice it is to just get a drink of water and gulp that baby down, it's a lovely thing.

Dialysis and All that Jazz

I started this blog to show my friends what my dialysis was like, because they ask some questions about it (but most are big scardie cats and don't wanna come, you bums;) ). So I thought I'd take some pictures of a few things and tell what they do. 

This is my Dialysis Machine. The tubes cycle my blood through a filter that takes out toxins that are harmful to my body. Since my kidneys can't do that anymore, thats what the machine does for me.

These are the needles in my fistula. It's a vein and an artery that doctors connected in my left arm. It creates a natural artery that they can place needles in with an increased bloodflow.

My lovely T.V. Dialysis takes 3 hours and 45 minutes, so I sit in my chair and watch some cable TV. I can't move my arm because the needles may shift and affect the bloodflow to the machine. 

More Machine pictures :)

The light thats on my machine, if there is a problem it turns red and makes a beeping noise. Normally it's a happy green if the treatment is going perfectly.

The whole setup. (oh look it's me in my frumpy Dialysis clothes)

Marie was sneaky and got a picture of me all woozy (yay funny face). Sometimes my blood pressure drops very low at the end of my treatment or my muscles can cramp up, usually in my legs and back. It can happen because I took off too much fluids or went past my dry weight. That means they have to give me some saline to help bring back up my pressure. 

Kinda short I know but, if people have questions, feel free to ask in the comment section and I'll try to answer them the best I can.