Dorothea had her first Dialysis treatment this morning. A nurse stayed with her the entire time to monitor the process, so I asked a few questions of him... The longest time they can run the machine is 3.5 hours. The machine works as an artificial kidney - it pulls out impurities from her blood, and excess fluid, then returns the blood to her. They had the machine set to run for 3.0 hours, and to remove 2.5 liters of fluid. The kidney specialist came in and let us know that she is planning on running it for 3 days, then re-evaluating at that point. Her blood pressure did drop after having dialysis, so they gave her some medication to bring her blood pressure back up to normal levels. Harold and I could see a definite decrease in swelling of her hands, and her nails are much closer to a normal color (they have been blue for days). They have increased the amount of sedation to help her remain at rest. She still opens her eyes sometimes and will respond to yes/no questions. She often grimaces in pain when touched. The nurse tells me that pain is due to the swelling and lack of movement.
The doctors were concerned about her right foot yesterday, it seemed to have a dark spot on the bottom, indicating lack of circulation I believe. They have now placed furry "boots" on both of her feet and lower legs. Underneath the boots she also has an air filled contraption that blows up periodically to stimulate circulation in her legs.
Her blood sugar has remained good, thankfully. I will be back up to see her this afternoon,if there is any new news, I will post again. Thank you for checking in to see how she is doing! Keep those prayers coming!
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