Endurance...

It's been a week! 

Monday at dialysis, the doc told me that it was time to take the dialysis catheter out.  I had talked her into giving me a few days to see if the antibiotics would work, but my body seems to hate vancomycin.  Oh well...

It was taken out Tuesday by a surgeon I know well in Prescott.  Thankfully, he took one look at my absurd catheter that the access center in Phoenix put in and told me it would be too painful to take out while I was awake.  I had to wait a couple of hours for the OR to open up, but I was grateful to be asleep when he took it out.

Wednesday Gordon and I travelled to Mayo for a consultation with a vascular disease specialist.  He asked a ton of questions, felt for pulses at various places in my body and then sent me down for labs.  (My favorite!)  It only took two tries for the blood draw, so we had a good day!  I came home so exhausted...I fell asleep at 6:00 and didn't wake up until this morning.

Today, I got to the hospital at 9:00 for the new catheter placement.  While I was in pre-op they had to put an IV in.  I think six different nurses tried, and they finally called in the radiologist to use the ultrasound machine to find a vein.  He put in a four-inch catheter in my upper right arm.  Kind of weird.  A little while later, the anesthesiologist came in and told the nurse to give me 2 grams of Versed.  It's my new favorite drug! :)  Once it's in, you don't remember a thing!

I woke up after surgery in a lot of pain.  The surgeon put the new catheter in on my left side (the other two I've had have been placed on the right side.)  Once again, grateful for good pain meds.  They made me a little nauseous, but I managed okay.  Gordon came and picked me up and we went home.  (After stopping for a HUGE Mountain Dew.) 

Gordon got called in early for work today, and in order to get enough sleep he had to miss Ian's wrestling tournament.  We felt so bad that he wouldn't have anyone there for him.  It's the first time that he's been on his own.  Maybe he should do it more often...he took 2nd place!  I'm so proud of him!  He's getting better each year and I just love watching him wrestle.

Dialysis tomorrow...we'll see how this new catheter behaves!  Hopefully it will be the last one until the transplant in February!!