Not much in the way of "nitey nite" lately...

As seen on http://www.ihatedialysis.com/ (er um...ok...so I did some editing to this version--truth-in-blogging 'n all):

Greetings, all. Well, I have been doing nocturnal for about a month now, or so. I love the way I feel-- but then I've always done much better on longer treatments (I did 8-hour/thrice weekly treaments during the day last year). My joints aren't as creaky and my phosphorus is actually too low and I'll have to adjust for that. My sleep is better-- on the nights I'm not at dialysis. hehehe. Basically, I CANNOT sleep at the center. It's the chair-- not anything else. I have noise canceling earphones and the light doesn't bother me...but OY! THAT CHAIR!

Let me continue my rant about the chair. My body totally rejects dialysis chairs. I cannot do a 3-hour treatment in a dialysis chair without it throwing my neck off. I have to sit bolt upright-- in the posture one has in a really good office chair. To sleep, I need a flat surface, where I can turn on my sides. I cannot sit or sleep in a reclining position--EVER.

Are my CAPS getting the message across? Actually, I shouldn't be shouting here. I made the staff aware of this problem I have with dialysis chairs before we begun this nocturnal study. I have made a point of repeating my chair problem at least twice a night during my sessions. I have made the directors and docs and some of the corporate board members aware of my aversion to the chairs in this center. And it isn't that this has fallen on deaf ears-- they have looked into getting some samples of alternative chairs, and they seem to be committed to purchasing at least a couple of chairs. But really, I can no longer wait for their approval process to run its course. And here's why...

Not only do I drive 1.5 hours each way to the center where the nocturnal dialysis is taking place, I frequently have to work early the day after a session-- for 8 hours. I find that because I do not get more than a few minutes of sleep at the center (sometimes I'm so exhausted that I will doze off for a bit) I end up sleeping-- on my drive home from the center at 6 am! This is not very healthy, and I'm sure that I'll end up negating the good from nocturnal dialysis by driving off a cliff on the trip back. * goofy grin* Anyhoo... I have endured this sleep exhaustion as long as I can. No mas! In this economy, I can't afford to call in sick (again...and again) because I'm sleep deprived from spending the night in a torturous dialysis chair.

I am now shopping for my own dialysis chair...and I will soon find out what I have to do to get the center to accept the delivery (isn't nocturnal dialysis great? I can now work full-time and use one whole paycheck to purchase a dialysis chair!) I am perfectly willing to let any and all other patients, doing dialysis at the center, use the chair when I'm not scheduled for it. And whooo boy, I came across one chair on the internet that lies flat, has heat AND massage. I just ask that the center designate the chair "the Michelle Adams-Walton Memorial Comfortable Dialysis Chair," after my demise-- which may come sooner than I anticpated, because I plan to scrabble over the falls in Yosemite over Spring Break-- that's how good I feel! Hmmm, on second thought, I think I'll be buried in that chair....aw! being heated and massaged into the afterlife sounds kinda groovy.

Anyway...I thought I would just give this long-ass update. More to follow...and please join in with your comments, razberries and the like.

Nitey nite...Treasure/Michelle