Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 57)

Writing is a lonely endeavor. You start off with a nebulous idea that can blossom into something that interests you, the writer. For me, that is obviously keeping up with the dialysis game, which this blog is mostly about at least tangentially.

A colleague of mine is in the throes of writing his dissertation at Purdue and asked me about AI-specifics to aid and abet his journey which, as I can well attest, can be gruesome. While writing a blog is not on the same level, the same basics apply; communicate clearly and directly. I decided to use Poe to ascertain how we’re doing from a writing perspective in this blog. Below I’ve embedded the Prompt I used in Poe and what “she” had to say about this blog.

Prompt: I write a blog at url www.feeser.me that is about my dialysis journey. Please evaluate my writing and tell me how we’re doing

Henry Feeser’s Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) journey – Never ring the bell! (https://www.feeser.me/)

9:10 PM

Imported

Assistant

Poe

Your blog about your dialysis journey is engaging and personal, offering readers a candid look into your daily experiences and challenges. Here are some strengths and areas for improvement:

Strengths:

1. Personal Touch: Your writing is relatable, sharing not just medical updates but also personal anecdotes about gardening and family life, which adds warmth.
2. Consistency: You maintain a regular posting schedule, which keeps your audience engaged and informed about your journey.
3. Humor and Positivity: Despite the challenges of dialysis, you have a positive tone, often infusing humor and lightheartedness, which can be uplifting for readers.
4. Detailed Descriptions: You provide specific details about your activities, making it easy for readers to visualize your day-to-day life.

Areas for Improvement:

1. Structure and Flow: Consider organizing your posts with clearer headings or sections to improve readability, especially for longer entries.
2. Engagement with Readers: Encouraging more interaction through questions or prompts at the end of posts could foster a sense of community among your readers.
3. Visuals: Adding images or videos related to your gardening or daily activities could enhance engagement and break up text.
4. Medical Insights: While personal experiences are valuable, including more information about the dialysis process, tips, or resources could benefit readers who may be going through similar situations.

Overall, your blog is doing well in sharing your journey and connecting with readers. Keep up the good work!

Yesterday, I just about did myself under working in the yard. Let me explain. Friday, I visited our go-to greenhouse and picked up our phone order for 8 flats of Zinnias and 4 flats of Marigolds. Drove these home, unloaded our X5, and reloaded it with trees for our son which I then delivered. Saturday, our hired lady arrived and planted all the flats while I worked alongside her on other jobs. Sunday I finished all plantings except for 9 trees, which are positioned for our landscaping crew to plant after mowing etc Wednesday. Thursday, our hired lady will be back to weed the last two flower beds. Meanwhile I need to buy about 17 wooden stakes to finish staking tomatoes and be ready  for the landscaping crew. Who has time for dialysis? My kt/V that we just did is 2.12 up from 1.98, so something is working!

In dermatologist waiting room. Just had yet another chunk of cancer cut out, this time located on back of my head to the left. Waiting for Moh’s results to come in. This is a never-ending process for me, as if dialysis is not enough.

Started my day off by visiting the greenhouse in Glen Rose, where zI purchased two olive trees for my wife, two small lemon, and two small lime trees to share with our son.

Thence to the bank to provide my wife the funds to pay our dog walker. Then to Walmart to buy some hose fittings and on to zFresenius to have my catheter end changed and to complete my quarterly adequacy test.

I followed this by a visit to our local greenhouse where zI purchased eight sweet 100 tomato plants to share with our son. Pn the way back home stopped at the grocery store. Have to water our plants and then hit the shower. Pretty typical day.

Have an adequatecy test ongoing today and tomorrow. No big deal. It’s just a pain to lug in the drain fluids which are heavy, and remember to urinate in the provided container.

Weather broke – again here in N Texas. Today, beautiful sun and in the high 70s. I celebrated by visiting our favorite greenhouse  and buying four Meyer Lemon trees and an olive tree. Two of the lemon trees are for us; the remainder are for our son’s new greenhouse which should be operational in a matter of weeks. I’ll post a video of it as soon as it’s up and running.

Meanwhile, enjoy the hand you’re dealt; it’s the only hand you can put in play.

Friday morning, I woke up with vertigo. It was a mild case that came and went, but it whacked me nonetheless. My wife gave me the medication for vertigo recommended by both my GP and urologist, and I was able to solider on.

Friday evening, I had problems setting up the cycler. It would not recognize the bag on the heater  tray regardless of what we did. I ended up shutting down and replacing the cassette which cleared the problem. First time in over 800 dialysis sessions that I’ve experienced a faulty cassette. Be advised it could happen to you.

Dialysis is, at this stage, over two years in, merely an inconvenience. Yes, I have to take sit-down breaks, but who at 86 doesn’t?

Today I vacuumed and cleaned our BMW’S dash area with a detailing brush. I then cranked up our truck and went up to our local greenhouse. There, I bought 18 3 cube bags of mulch, 20 bags of compost/manure, and six tomato plants.

Upon arrival home, I switched vehicles to our X5 and accompanied my wife to Krogers, where we dropped over $400 and didn’t buy any meat. Oh, there was a lunch enroute.

Had about half an hour to catch up on the news before starting my evening dialysis routine. Crank up the Cycler, take a shower, take care of the catheter area, take care of the latest cancer removal area, and lastly, apply the chemical cancer treatment to the back of my head.

I’m currently doing a 2l static fill, then supper, then a little Acorn tv, then to bed in the 2100 timeframe where I’ll hookup to the Cycler for the night, arise about 8 or later, rinse and repeat.

Exciting life, isn’t it?

Yesterday, my wife was vacuuming our golden retriever on our back patio. Goldens tend to shed quite a bit, make that gobs, and vacuuming is a way to prevent an abundance of dog hair everywhere inside the house. This is especially important for those of us on dialysis. I was struck and very impressed by his demeanor during this process. Most/many dogs are utterly afraid of vacuum cleaners and fight and/or are dubious of any grooming. Not Dickens as you can view in the video below. He just laid back and essentially went to sleep. Perhaps we should take direction from him and not sweat the stuff in life that we can’t change but just have to endure – like dialysis for instance.

This past Friday, I had my monthly dialysis team meeting. Nothing astray to report – leaving my BP meds alone and admonished me to up my protein ontake.

Saturday, my wife and I drove down to a little out of the way nursery where we ended up buying $157.00 worth of plants. They did have tomato plants so I filled out what is needed to complete our tomato’s bed. Video to flow. Also bought three vining clematis plants fir the new trellis. Had two lettuce plants , but Golden Retriever ate them. Go figure.