Wet inserts

It's that "time of the month," and I need to dialyze. This is not a happy Wednesday.

I am actually very tired from work and the drive home from Pleasanton to Walnut Creek through the 680 traffic maze. Now, I have to face the needles. I am not looking forward to this.

It took four attempts to get my veins (luckily, just one attempt for the artery). The venous needle hit a blood clot on the first attempt. The next two could not get sufficient blood flow. We were about to give up when someone suggested a "wet insert". Although that sounds rather erotic, believe me... it's not erotic at all! It just means that saline is added when they insert those big needles in you. It was rather uneasy especially when you are listening to three technicians talking their way through puncturing your skin with a wet fat needle. It is like getting the blow-by-blow to surgery, not a very comfortable feeling. At least, that puncture was successful, and they were able to get a flow.

The next two and a half hours were somewhat uneventful. I noticed that my temp was dropping low, but everything seemed normal.

Until the needles were pulled...

Jen had to stop the eight minutes machines early since I was starting to cramp. When she started to dismantle the tubes, she found that I almost clotted the machine with my thick blood. The blood from the venous needle is almost as thick as honey!

On the other hand, the arterial side was spewing blood all over. I made a big mess and felt really bad for the clean-up needed. I needed Hubby's help to put enough pressure on it to make it stop, even then it took three gauze! Quite traumatic!

Not looking forward to Friday. Maybe I should come back after "that time of the month" is over. Things are usually easier then.