I’m hooked up to the machinery.
I fondly(?) call it Barnabus Collins. The bloodsucker.
(As in vampire)
You can imagine it. It’s just sooooo tedious. I kinda like being alive so I’ll manage it, somehow.
The comings and goings in this place intrigue me. A troup of characters like a small cast driven play ensemble.
I like the ‘Sleepy guy’ he’s never been awake as I’ve seen. He’s in a wheel chair slumped over. I’ve seen him asleep hooked up.
There’s the little 10yo girl. Talks incessantly. She is a sweetheart. Hugs everyone. Waves at me across the hallway. (I don’t do hugs)
I told y’all about the ‘The Giant hoodie’ company. I’ve been wearing mine over here. This place is so cold. Is it one step up from the morgue or something?
Nurse Shelly is usually my nurse. So nice in a bossy sort of way. There’s a new nurse. He’s training I guess cause he comes in with Shelly and takes notes on his iPhone.
He told me on his recordings he took in my area that I have a thick southern accent. I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or just rude.
Today I’m watching TVLand. Waiting on Andy Griffith show. I’ve been reading. But I’m out of good books. Any recommendations for reading material would be greatly appreciated…
If you like detective stories, I just discovered a new writer. Name is Martin Walker and his detective is the only cop in a small town in southern France (Perigord) and has his own ideas on policing. There are 17 novels and you could load them all on an e-reader. I am coming to the end of #4. They were recommended to me by my cardiologist.
When my son was 12 he had a sleep study. Because he was a minor I had to be present the entire night. I was in a tiny room with a chair, my son was in another room. I read all night, but couldn’t sleep.
In the morning I took him to a diner for breakfast, where he confessed that he never fell asleep.
Anyway, the sleep study building had extra security because they were open overnight. Maybe dialysis centers are cheaper to operate 9-5.
If you go to a highly populated city, some clinics have overnight; however, most places will push home hemo or home peritoneal treatments. You can do both overnight, BUT training is a pain, you must have another adult in your house, and a lot of storage room.
FWIW, the clinic I went to was open 515am - 715pm. I was with three other people on my Tu/Th/Sa on first shift. I was younger than them by at least 30 years, which led to interesting conversations. I still check on one of them - still kicking and still complaining. Unfortunately, he is no longer eligible for a transplant. Another older man was just … a pip (as my dad would day). He knew everything, and made sure to impart his wisdom. According to him, I couldn’t have the type of kidney disease I have, because my parents don’t have it. I’m adopted, but bless your heart anyways. And the third was an older woman whose daughter was a bossy bee. She knew her daughter was a royal pain, but let her run her life anyways - and then complained to us about it.
We had The Preacher. A guy my age. Every six months a new BMW. Dressed to the nine’s constantly - full three piece suit, lots of gold jewelry. There was The Delinquent - as you’re aware, our diet is very strict. Yeah, not him. Did as he pleased. Always came in at least 3kg over goal. Legless Joe - pretty self-explanatory. Unfortunately, he was also a very large man, so there always had to be a bigger tech on to help transfer.
I lived on my iPad. Read books, hung out here and on other mbs. Played games. Watched movies. Listened to music. I was a pain in the ass patient, I think. Like your clinic, ours was also kept cold as hell. NO, do not fricking tuck me in. No, don’t pull the TV in front of me and turn it on. I am not deaf, so speaking loudly is annoying. I also have a thing with bodily autonomy, so when a nurse would do her check in and just start poking and prodding at me - nope. I am more than meat in a chair, thank you.
Omg. I hate that prodding, poking and touchy touchy. I tolerate most of it. But sometimes I put a hand up. A gesture meant to back them off.
I, too am the pain in the ass.
When they gripe at me I simply bat my eyelashes and say…“hey, I’m just trying to stay alive, here”
That usually stops them cold.
We have a noob in the center. An older woman. She’s not at all happy. Her son dropped her off. She’s been trying to call him back non-stop. Seems he has all her info.
God. How am I gonna do this for the rest of my life?
While it doesn’t fit in your favorite genres of books, I recently read Carrie Fisher’s The Princess Diarist. She was a very funny writer, and was very open about her emotional struggles; it was the last book she wrote before her death a couple of years ago. It’s mostly about her experiences as a young actress, and filming the original Star Wars film, and in it, she revealed, for the first time, that she and Harrison Ford had a brief affair during filming. She also included excerpts from her diaries that she kept at the time. Definitely recommended, though it made me a little sad for Carrie, since she had a lot of struggles with self-esteem.
The Diana Gabaldon books (“Outlander” series) will keep you occupied for a good while!
I also enjoy Sue Grafton’s “alphabet” series featuring Kinsey Milhone. Sue is rounding the bend towards the last of the alphabet, and if she stops writing at Z, I’ll cry. Hard.
I ADORE JD Robb’s “Death” series with Dallas, Lieutenant Eve. JD Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts, so you KNOW the books are good!
If the room is cold, buy a Cuddle-Up blankie, and you, too, can know the joys of sleeping through dialysis!
“Sleep Clinic” is a misnomer. Patients are wired to receive transmissions from Perseverence on Mars. You are given a pillow filled with rocks, the thermostat is set to freeze ice cream solid, and you have a bed of nails with a skimpy blanket. You’re told the room has TV cameras and is wired with microphones (I got undressed in the damned bathroom!). Hideous experience!
Have you read the Cat Who…. Mysteries? There is a ton of them and they are charming bits of reading fluff. Try to read them in order and don’t read the last one.
The nurse and I had a conversation - I would not presume to just walk up to you and start touching you. I request the same respect, even if I am in this stupid chair. I am not a fan of being touched on the best of days, being poked and prodded (even clinically) and treated like a chunk of meat did not work for me.
I also had to come down hard with reminding them I know my body. I know when things are right or not. You see me 3x/week, that’s it. If I say a needle is wrong, it’s WRONG.
Do you like murdery books? John Sanford and William Kent Krueger write some fantastic books set in my area.
I’d like to recommend Elly Griffiths. She’s English and has two mystery series. One featuing a woman archaeologist who gets involved with murders. The other is set in late 1950s Brighton and features a professional magician. She’s had a few standalone books that I really liked, and one of the is turning to another series. The featured “player” in that series is a lesbian police detective of Pakistani heritage. All three series are interesting and present aspects of England and English culture that usually I haven’t seen quite as much as others.
If you’ve never read Elizabeth George, she has twenty books now in here Inspector Lynley series.
Robert Tanenbaum has a wonderful series about an Assistant District Attorney in NYC. He had a fantastic ghost writer for the first eight books. After that, there was a change-up, and subsequent writers have flubbed the continuity. I enjoy the books so much, I (cough, choke) overlook the continuity discrepancies.
rich.