This past Thursday, I attended my monthly Dialysis Team meeting. Present were my Dialysis Nurse, nephrologist, dietitian, and Social Worker. As I stated in a previous blog concerning my lab results and the recent repositioning of my catheter surgery (11/4/2023), I was most interested in my wKt/V reading of 1.7 which went down and was below the desired two threshold, as well as how the three accesses in my stomach were healing.
Concerning the reduction in wKr/V, which is a measure of how well my dialysis is working, my nephrologist suggested we wait another month to ascertain what’s going on, as the lab value was based on data accumulated before my catheter was moved and repositioned.
Concerning the healing of the three accesses and the condition of my catheter port, upon visual examination, my nephrologist proclaimed that everything looked great, that the existing plastic covering of the surgical access ports would fall off in due course, and everything looked good.
The team was very pleased to learn that in the eight nights since repositioning my catheter, I have experienced NO drain alarms, and the amount of my microfiltration, the fluid drained out in excess of what is pumped in, seems to be on the rise. This indicated that the dialysis process is removing more excess fluid from my body, which is also being reflected in less swelling of my ankle areas. Good trend to have!
Lastly, I currently take a 0.25 mg dose of Calcitriol three times a week. Calcitriol is a man-made active form of vitamin D. Most people get enough vitamin D from sun exposure and fortified food products (such as dairy products and vitamins). Vitamin D helps control the parathyroid hormone and the levels of certain minerals (such as calcium and phosphorous.) Based on my lab results, the dosage was increased to five times a week.
Other than the above, I’m good to go, and I hope you readers are also!
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