I also went to my Dialysis Education class, and dialysis doesn’t sound so scary, just kind of a hassle. This form of dialysis is called peritoneal dialysis (PD), which is different from the hemodialysis most of you are thinking about. Each session includes setting up, draining the fluid, refilling the belly with new solution, and all along the way there are many steps to keep everything sterile. A patient can choose to do manual dialysis, or automatic dialysis with the help of a machine that runs throughout the night, cleaning the body of toxins while the patient sleeps. I’m still not feeling sick so crossing my fingers that I won’t need dialysis at all before transplant.
In the meantime, I’m getting used to downing my mini heap of pills at bedtime. Dr. Awesome Nephrologist has tripled my daily Fish Oil intake. If you take those you know it’s like swallowing a horse pill. They’re huge! Now that I take three daily, my husband says I smell a bit like fish in the morning. (TMI?) I was at Target yesterday and guess what I saw at the pharmacy – “odor less” and “burp less” Fish Oil! Who knew!… Another pill, my sodium bicarbonate tablets also scratch up my throat a bit. Yes, that’s right, sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda. In 
addition to deodorizing your refrigerator and serving as a teeth cleaning agent, baking soda also comes in a 650-mg tablet you can take if your doctor tells you your blood is too acidic. Strange, but true!
Thanks for all your great support. I’m due for my next appointment in mid-December. I’m using all these trips to the City to lunch with my SF friends. Please call me if you are out there. And Happy Thanksgiving to all. Until then, I’ll be out looking for cats to hang out with; Maybe they won’t mind my fish breath.
Hello Kidney! 