Yesterday, 11/21/2023, as previously stated in Tuesday’s blog, I went to my dialysis center at Fresenius in Granbury, TX for the lab work associated with my latest Adequacy Test. While there, I was quizzed by my dialysis nurse Cindy as to how it was going since my PD fluid volume was increased to 10,000 mL from 8,000 mL, or to 2,500 mL from 2,000 mL per dwell. I informed her that I was doing fine and had noticed no difference in feeling in my stomach area and was feeling better overall.
She related to me an interesting story about one of her previous patients. Previous because he is dead.
One dictionary definition of “Discord” is a lack of agreement or harmony (as between person things, or ideas.) A previous patient was advised of the need to increase fluids from 1,800 mL to 2,500 mL but refused, stating that his stomach just couldn’t handle it. This, by the way, was based on no empirical evidence, just conjecture. He was a strapping six-plus footer that should have had plenty of room in his gut for increased fluid but refused. His plight was complicated by the fact that he had had Covid which severely impacted his lungs to the point that he was short of breath and was seeing a pulmonologist. The Discord between his state and prescribed dialysis treatment is obvious. He died as a result.
The lesson here is obvious also. Chances are your dialysis team is acting in your best interest and knows what they are doing, from empirical evidence if nothing else. Listen and weigh carefully their advice. It might just be the difference between life and death.
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