Dialysis Part II

[randomheroyo]

Work in a dialysis unit

[hubbahubba1432]

Ouch are you okay I just see huge veins

[bobbyfaith]

awesome video. I wonder at the medical marvel of the dialysis machine and wish healthy and speedy recovery for patient faced with kidney problem.

but I do have a question on dialysis machine. How do they clean the machine after dialysis? Since one persons blood has been through the machine so they would have to clean it to use it again, right?

or is there a filter (which they call kidney here) that they just remove after dialysis. Can someone let me know if they know.

[damondanieli]

@bobbyfaith They dispose of all materials that have come in contact with blood (tubes, needles, the artificial kidney, etc). They also wipe down the machine and seat with a disinfectant.

The whole dialysis center is very hygienic.

[NoobsyPoopsy]

The nurse is wonderful!

[damondanieli]

@NoobsyPoopsy Teresa is! (and so are all of the rest of the staff at Northwest Kidney Centers).

[dcleary5]

Thank you for posting this video. I had so many question about Diaysis' I was wondering does all your blood go through the machine or just a little bit a time.

[damondanieli]

@dcleary5 There is less than 1 pint (0.5 liters) of blood outside your body at any given time, but over the course of a 4-hour "run" you will have all of your blood cycled several times.

Thanks for your question.

[FePelLin]

5 stars!

Your video made me miss my days like student in dialisis unit.

I was a lucky student for that assignment!

[Metalmandy8]

Sonds like your humming the level up tune from the FF series at the begginging.. and i pray i never have to do this. D:

[Ivansteel]

Awesome educational videos. I sent you 2 messages. If you could answer them that would be great. I have had 2 heart transplants and my kidneys failed, requiring me to do dialysis for 1 year and 8 months now. Hope to get a kidney and a liver maybe, they say it is going bad too. Thank you for your time.

[Scorp111786]

Man i've been on Dialysis for about 1year and 3 months and i tell you its hell. I've had to get up at 4am just to catch the bus 30 miles and get out on the machine at 6:15. Lately i'd have some luck at a kidney transplant but the kidney structure was bad. So i guess im near the top of the list. ****GOOD LUCK TO ALL*****

[damondanieli]

Hi Scorp,

If I understand you correctly you got a call to get ready for a transplant but the donor's doctor had determined that the kidney was bad.

I don't know your age or health history of course, but I would avoid "Extended Criteria" donors (these are ones with additional health problems) and wait longer for a good kidney if you can.

But yes, if they are calling you then it shouldn't take long. Ping me when you get the transplant!

[motoman911]

Here's a question, once your on this machine- are you stuck to it? Can you unplug it and go shopping (or whatever) and come back and plug in again?

[damondanieli]

Hi Motoman,

Sorry for the delay.

A typical dialysis session lasts 4-5 hours and is done 3 times a week. While you are on the machine, you can't go anywhere (not even to pee without having to unplug).

Once you are disconnected (see my other video), you can go anywhere you want of course. Although I was zonked afterward and would NOT be able to do anything requiring me to think.

Some patients dialyze in the morning and go to work. I don't know how they can do that.

[funkandgroovin]

no you cant. you are connected to the machine and sit in a chair for about 5 hours . at least three times a week.

[angieskidney]

This brings back memories. Your nurse is so nice. I have had my kidney transplant for a little over a year now after being on dialysis for a few years. Hope you are doing well! The first year can have lots of ups and downs with transplant just like dialysis can.

Thanks for making these videos! I am telling everyone about your videos on KidneySpace! :) Thank you!

[damondanieli]

Hi Angie,

Funny, but I JUST watched your videos on the Canadian Transplant Games and came back to my videos to answer comments and recognized your name.

Thanks for telling folks!  (and are you going to the World Transplant Games 2009 in Australia?)

[angieskidney]

I can't afford to go to Australia right now but I would sure love it. Right now with the economy the way it is I am out of work so travel has been on hold. Still I do hope people post their videos from the games so I can at least watch them :)

Thanks for the reply! :)

[unavailablechha]

how is you new kidney is working properly, i wish it work. Anyway thank you for sharing videdo.

[damondanieli]

I'm doing great. Perfect so far!

I've just crossed over the 90 day mark without a hitch and at some point (maybe in three months) I'll lower the dose of my medication.

Thank you for your post.

[unavailablechha]

hey friend whenever you had dialysis, and they used to do the this things? they didn't make the AV Shunt in your arm or any place?

[damondanieli]

Yes, I have an AV Fistula (that's the big squiggly line that the are putting the needles into right next to my wrist.

[willbri1]

i volunteer at a dialysis unit (it is an off-site campus to a company that owns hospitals and stuff like that) and it is so hard to see such nice people go through that. it's even hard to walk back and see them doing compressions on a patient and then having to call 911 and not break down when i give the name of a dear patient. However, i do think i want to get a job doing this and i learned that from volunteering!

[damondanieli]

Hi Willbri1,

Thank you for your comments and thank you for volunteering at a dialysis unit. I'll say this as an ex-dialysis patient: please don't get yourself upset when things go badly for us: we know you care and are doing a job.

Sometimes patients cannot stop bleeding and you have to send them to a hospital and even sometimes they die. It is just one of those things that happen.

[VixXxEn8o8]

in addition to my last comment... tell her to shake as minimal as possible to avoid them mangy microbubbles! :) i usually shake it when the arterial is almost clear. there is no policy in our clinic on which needle to remove first... usually i do the venous first anyway (given that the blood pressure is stable) then the arterial, since it tends to bleed a little more. how fast does your puncture sites clot off?

[damondanieli]

Will do.

I was very quick coming off. I only needed 10 minutes (usually) and just band-aids, no gauze or extra pressure.

Are you planning to go to nursing school?

[VixXxEn8o8]

It's more effective (and rinses clearer) if she shakes the dialyzer with the venous (blue) end up. :)

[damondanieli]

Thanks Vix... I did not know that. I'll give her the suggestion.

[VixXxEn8o8]

I'm still iffy about Nursing School... it's already difficult working full time and being a mommy to an almost 2 yr old!

[ThomGreen666]

hey, are you on the transplant list? i just spent 4 years on dialysis and had a transplant 2 months ago, it's changed my life. it's everything you can hope for and more. good luck.

[damondanieli]

Yes, I just had a transplant the next week after I shot those videos. You can see the results of the transplant if you look for my other videos "Kidney Transplant Patient Perspective" and "Kidney Transplant Donor Perspective Parts I and II".

It has changed my life as well. A ton of good things happened to me the week I was called by my donor with a surgery date.

[damondanieli]

I just feel so much better compared to when I was on dialysis and although my hermatocrit has not climbed back up to normal yet -- it was at 31 last week and 34 this week -- I have twice the energy that I did and I can think clearly again. Before I was kind of in a funk.

[ThomGreen666]

agree, it literally changes everything. imagine being on dialysis for 4 years and recieving a transplant! glad you're doing well as i understand your situation.

[nossawja]

Sorry for not being clear. Our policy is to pull the venous first, wait for it to stop bleeding and then pull the arterial. I've been an RN for two years and started my career in dialysis.

[damondanieli]

Interesting. I only know about the two dialysis centers I've been to and they both did the same thing: pull both and put clamps/straps over the gauze.

I stop bleeding pretty quickly (around 10 minutes) so it would have been pretty hard to wait that long, then clamp off the other one. Good to know that others do it differently.

[nossawja]

Are those buttonhole needles? We are just starting to use the buttonhole technique in our clinic, which is a Fresenius Unit. At our unit, we do not pull both needles at once because of the risk of the access clotting. Thanks for the video!

[damondanieli]

Hi Nossawja,

Yes, those are 15G "blunt" needles. I'm not sure what you mean "at once", but the first one (venous) was pulled, gauze applied and then a strap. The second one (arterial) was pulled, gauze then strap. What do you do in your clinic?