Dialysis 2019 Thoughts
Twenty years on dialysis as of November 2018, Sometimes I think I will go absolutely mad doing it. Three days a week for six hours every week, no rest from it. Just keep going to stay alive.
Three days a week for 52 weeks a year 52*3= 156 treatments a year.
20 years= 3120 treatments. Over 6000 needles.
156* 6 hours each treatment= 936 hours of dialysis a year.
X-rays, scans, ultra sounds, minor surgeries, interventional radiology, major surgeries,hospital visits.
Illness, infections, sepsis. Antibiotics, medications, vitamins.
Life with an invisible illness.
If I stop to think about it all; I would probably run away as fast as I could screaming. Most days I just handle things and do life.
When people ask me “how do you do it?” My usual replay is “To dumb to know any better.”
I often have to take life one second, one minute, one small increment at a time. “Okay, there was one second, breathe again, okay there is another one. Hey a whole minute went by and you are okay.” I find myself five minutes later, still okay. Tears and frustration may still be around, but I am still okay.