Month: March 2015

Friday evening dialysis in the construction


A little confusing, off balance, little things fumbly. odd to arrive for dialysis at just before 5 pm. The nurses are working scrambly new shifts. A few stumbles with housekeeping.  Smooth run, no nap.  Left around 920 PM.  Drive home in the dark, the reverse of my normal dialysis day.

Different TV for dialysis: I watched Bill Nighy and Tim Gunn speak with Charlie Rose.  Long loved Nighy’s performances. Gunn an intriguing man.  He spoke about the differences between teaching and mentoring.

Easter weekend next week will stretch construction time, we may face a third week.  On Good Friday, I will again be taking dialysis from 5-9 PM to help out another patient who has a big family dinner that night  In the past when I was treated on afternoons, I found it exceedingly strange to look at the blood running through the tubing heading to and returning from the machine at 3 o’clock, the time Christ died on the cross..

Water damage at clinic


Flat roof, snow melt, blocked roof drain (ice), equals water into the walls of the waiting room and the dialysis unit.  First three chairs of dialysis treatment are out of action. From 9 chairs down to 6.

So we are running temporary evening shift.  Three patients from morning and three from afternoons.  Tough scramble to schedule the nurses. Many patients do not drive themselves. Some are driven by the Red Cross. Some are in wheelchairs.

I was asked to come Friday evening, a scramble from the first alignment of patient changes.  Because I have runs On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I can only shift Friday.

This morning the infection control ruled on the third day of reconstruction that negative pressure in the small work area was not well enough sealed (seam taping, etc.). No work done this morning.  The original work estimate was a ludicrous two days.  A nurse and I discussed a betting pool on number of days to complete fixes.  We both want the one month square.

My run today was quiet, I napped.

1/2 great day


As a fellow dialysis patient answers when the nurses ask him how he is, “I’m still here.” He was just old enough to get in the Army in the Spring of 1945. They pressed him into duty for MP duty to help put down the Halifax Riot. We talked about that one morning in the waiting room.

He uses a walker. He recently broke his wrist. He has shingles.

When I bellyache about my pain, I look at him and wish I had kept my mouth shut.

Today in dialysis my ulcer troubles were almost manageable: right heel mostly quiet, left calf, the bigger “fella” gnawed on my nerves less, but he still chewed some. After four hours in the chair I was ready to exit to the car and drive home.

My friend the ex-MP, who was a school teacher was quiet about his suffering, except for the odd, very low groan. He was in the treatment chair next to me.

Grace, my dog greeted me at the door, grin and wagging tail.

God bless you all and keep you safe.

Not a great day


I have leg ulcers, small one on my right heel/ankle and a larger one on the back of my left calf.  This morning CCAC wound specialist had a look and changed the treatment of the wounds.

These two infections are holding up my open heart surgery.

Given my track record with ulcers, healing could take two months. Right now I have no angina or shortness of breath.  What I do have is a lot of pain from the ulcers. Much of today was very bad.  I walked to shake it off.  I tried to find a comfortable position  and failed.  But this evening about thirty minutes after Grace, the dog, and her cat wingman, Cadbury, joined me on my bed, the pain went away.  DSC_0062Grace brought her lamb squeaky toy with her on to the bed. I hope the pain stays away so I can sleep.

Goodnight to all and God bless you all.

Morning meeting


Around 630AM on Friday I almost hit a deer with my car on our beach road. It was pitch black and I came within ten feet of the deer. I have had bad luck, not seeing deer for over twenty years. The area is loaded with deer. My sister has seen a doe with fawns twice last year. I was very glad to see and miss them. At first I wondered why someone would let two large dogs run loose at that early hour. The place I live is a wild area but it it is easy to forget that larger creatures are nearby. We hear the birds every day, but this month I have seen Mr. Fox twice and Mr. Skunk once. They are all around.