I worked all day Monday and then went straight to the hospital for dialysis.All was going well until the machine started pumping my blood around. The needles were in but I must have moved my arm slightly and the pain was excruciating. My fistula had blown which means the needle had gone out the other side of my vein resulting in a swelling on my arm which the nurse kindly went and got some ice for. It also meant the next day there was a huge bruise to match the other one the nurse had given me the previous Monday! So my arm is dark purple at the moment and quite sore but hey these things happen. The nurse has advised me to go for a scan of my fistula to make sure its still working ok. My mum is going to ring up on Monday morning to see if there is any chance I can go on Wednesday as I am already heading up to the Royal Liverpool Hospital to see my transplant surgeon! So will keep you posted.
This is my arm below (not a great photo as I took it myself with my left hand) ... the top bruise is the most recent from last Monday and the bottom bruise is from the Monday before, it's still a bit swollen and quite hard to the touch, so not a pretty sight really... hopefully it will clear up soon!
I Tuesday looking after the little boy Peter again, mum and I took him to Tumble Tots were he ran round like a mad man yet again! We then met my dad at a local park called Walton Gardens, were we had a picnic, played on the park, went round the little zoo and had a ride on a little train, much fun was had by all!
On Wednesday the class I am working with went on a trip Pond Dipping, I kindly offered up my mum and myself as volunteers, we had a great time, the weather was gorgeous and the kids enjoyed getting stuck in finding all sorts of disgusting creatures in the pond! Mum asked my supervisor how I was doing and if I was getting on with the kids ok, my supervisor said I was doing well and had got the balance right, not being too friendly with the kids. However Mum called me by my first name in front of the kids and so they spent the rest of the day calling me Holly and Miss Holly instead of their usual Miss Shaw! So the overfriendly thing had gone down the pan! I worked the Thursday morning including my first experience of watching the class doing P.E, which was fun!
So by Friday I was wiped out, so treated myself to a long lie in!
Today I have been baby shopping with my Mum and my brothers wife Fiona for things for the nursery. We went to a carpet shop to choose a carpet and then went on to Babies R Us to get bedding, curtains, blankets, and lots of other exciting things! Fiona is looking really well and the bump is growing by the week! (I had a sneaky feel today!)
No plans for tomorrow, just relaxing before another weeks work. It's tiring but I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute and I'm really pleased I've not had any time off sick! Fingers crossed it stays that way...
PS. I have added some photo's to some of my previous posts and also a few new links to the right hand side if you fancy taking a look :o)
4 comments:
Infiltrates are no fun. I had 3 of them while I was on dialysis; 2 were fairly severe (http://jsher.livejournal.com/92299.html), and the last one I caught in enough time to prevent major bruising.
Have you ever had a fistulagram? If not, it's a good idea to get one. I had my fistula in for 2.5 years before they referred me, and they found 5 areas of narrowing which now must be fixed.
Hi Holly,
I got your reply on my blog; glad you liked the blog.
A fistulogram is a study where they inject dye into the fistula and use a "real time" x-ray machine to watch the dye go in (fluoroscopy machine), much like when they view the vessels of the heart with a cardiac cath. My fistulagrams have turned into fistulaplastys; meaning they insert a balloon through the fistula and expand it in order to open up an area of narrowing (stenosis). I've had this done 3 times since March, and each time they "ballooned" open 5 areas. I still need stents placed, but my transplant surgeon won't allow it for 3 months.
I'm amazed at the clarity of the ultrasounds on your blog. You would think that it was a picture!
Good luck with everything. I have your blog bookmarked and will check back in.
Jeff
Thanks for explaining transposition; I've heard of some people needing that. I'm lucky; mine developed well, but I had mine done 3 years before I needed to use it. Good luck.
I'll be checking your blog as well.
Jeff
Holly,
Enjoyed reading your blog and the links. It's incredible being able to see a great niece from 20 000 km away! I don't know if I could've spent the evening at the Blackpool restaurant. We have one of the highest populations of 'others' in the world You're a most courageous person - an inspiration!
Saundo (John)
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