Training Begins

We headed over to DaVita today for our 1:30 appointment.   We didn't know what to expect, but I wasn't thinking we'd be there 'till after 3:00.

First, Jennifer was concerned about the cath site.  She asked us if we were "the ones who took off the bandage ourselves."  Yes.  That's us.  She took off the current dressing and said things looked great.  No infection.  She cleaned the site and then added a connector to the end of the tube.  She flushed the abdominal catheter to make sure it was working properly.  (Flushing entailed having one full bag of dialysis fluid pumped into and removed from the abdomen.  Chris said it felt weird.)

We were then taken to another room to do some training.   She showed us how to clean the site, and she gave us a big bag of gauze, tape, ointment, etc.  We also got a binder with information.  Then we watched a video of how to care for the site during & after a shower.  The video was pretty poorly done -- it looked like it was done in an old Days Inn motel room.  Time for an update!   Chris passed the post-movie quiz.

We'll have to purchase table salt, distilled water, antibacterial soap, paper towels and antibacterial gel for the bathroom & his clean room.  Everything else will be provided by Baxter, she said.   Oh, and we will look into purchasing a belt to hold the tubing in place.  The tube coming out of his abdomen is longer now, and he's uncomfortable with it taped to his stomach.  It looks like one of the belts is covered by Medicare so I'll look into that soon.

That reminds me... speaking of Baxter... they're really on the ball.  They've already called Chris to see if he needs any of his supplies re-ordered.  We haven't even started yet.  Jennifer said that we'll have to place orders with them monthly, and they'll contact us if they don't hear from us by the appointed time.

There's more training to be done, so we'll see them again on Monday from 1:30 to 3:30.  It also seems like there's even more training after that, so it'll be the week of the 26th or so before Chris starts actual dialysis at home.   It's time for me to stop procrastinating and get my craft room ready for its new purpose.  I'm dreading this project.