home dialysis

well hello all ,,were at home now just on the second week of dialysis ,i think all is going well we have done two days without any help,, but have made mistakes ,,like today i touched the wrong thing on the screen and had to do a manual wash back and Andy's blood pressure was low so that didn't help,but all was ok in the end ,,but i did panic ,need to be calm next time ,,we are still doing 12 hours a week and doing it in the morning but im hoping we can change the times soon because Andy will have dialysis in the morning and then spend all afternoon in bed so that's a day wasted, i think Andy should have it in the evening then go to bed . then we can plan a day out somewhere,,it was the whole point of having dialysis at home so he could have a better life ,,so here's hoping i can get him out and about and into a better routine ,,the pic is of Andy in his little cabin on dialysis,, ttfn,xx.

Dialysis training

hi all ,,well we have had a good week at the hospital training ,,i feel better now its all coming together i think another week will be setting it all up without reading instruction ,,,Cris's and Maggie who are training patients are lovely people they deserve a medal for what they do ,,,, i just hope im confident when we get home on the 7th of September,, every thing is nearly set up in the cabin we brought a couch for Andy while his on dialysis at home ws lucky to find it threw a friend who saw the advert in a shop window but we don't no if its going to be suitable yet ,,if not will buy a new one ,,machine and every thing else will be delivered at the end of this month so then were be all set to go,,this week has gone to quick but i think i need to get some early nights we have to get up at 5 15 and get picked up at 6 15 ,and were get back home about 2 ,so we go back to bed for two hours and the days gone ,,,still will be better when we get home ,, this picture is of the couch we got for in the cabin,,,ttfn xxx

home dialysis

hi all just to let you know Andy's feet are doing ok now only took three lots of antibiotics this time ,, well its been all go here we have had the porta cabin put in the garden its nearly ready to be used,,we had work men in for two weeks ,,and now were on our second week training to put Andy on dialysis,,,I'm really enjoying it but finding it hard to get into a routine with Andy because we get picked up at 6 15 am so were up at 5 15 and get to hospital for 7, am . theres alot to take in and remember but were get there im getting a bot more confidence inserting the needles,,which is the most important part of dialising and very scary,,but hopefully i will get used to it, i need to go now but will keep you updated, here's a pic of the porta cabin ,,very cosy but smells like a hospital,,,ttfn xxx

keep your swine flu to your self .

Andrews feet are looking a bit better , and his feeling better to ,his had sickness and loss of appetite,,but is eating OK now ,, the doctor saw him at the hospital and decided to change his target weight and lower his blood pressure tablets because his blood pressure keeps dropping,,so hopefully he will start to feel better after dialysis now,,we are very concerned about swine flu like everyone else in the world we are dreading the kids picking it up and bringing it home as so many schools have had a least one child at school who has swine flu ,,i feel that all children and people with health problems should have the vaccine very soon,its the last day of school and the kids are going to bored again because of this typical British weather,,wheres the sun?,, well that's all i got to say today ,,so ttfn,xxxx.

Seaweed on feet

What a day well last night i said to andy are you feeling ok because you feel hot,he said he was fine , then this morning i left andy in bed and went to town to open a bank account for laurens ema , and phoned andy about 12 to see if he was ok ,he said no im not well again its my feet again and im cold,, so i rang his mum and told her andy wasnt well and that im on my way home from town , when i got there Andy's mum and dad and friend Rachel was there,,Andy was shivering but had a temperature , he had called for a doctors appointment and was waiting for the doctor to call back,,two hours later the doctor rang and asked Andy to go to the surgery at five,Andy had a appointment with the chiropody at 4 15 first ,,,Andy got there and he told that his foot and leg is sore ,so she had a dig around and said he had some trapped blood under the hard skin that could be the infection ,so she dressed it with seaweed ,she wrote to give to the doctor which Andy gave to him and was sent home with antibiotics ,,,Andy has not eaten all day which is a bit worrying being a diabetic,,but he cant keep anything down ,,,hope fully buy tomorrow the antibiotics would of kicked in and he will feel better,, but its so worrying because its not like the other week when he got infection its a bit different because he wasn't feeling bloated and he wasn't so restless like last time ,,he looks a bit breathless which is a bit more worrying ,,,when any thing like this happens now i will ring the dialysis ward tomorrow and tell them because they do blood tests on him right away which puts me at ease,,Andy says i always panic but i suppose you do when its some one you love ,will keep you posted ,,,ttfn,xx

smoking with kidney failure

just to let you all no Andy had a heart scare earlier this year,,the doctor told him one of his heart chambers was not pumping enough blood round his heart,,so he put him on some Betta blockers and told him he must stop smoking,,,so with a little help from patches Andy has given up smoking ,wish i had the will power to stop ,,,tried the patches before but they didn't work on me,,,maybe its going to take something serious to happen with my health to make me stop, mind you it has made a big difference to him because his stopped coughing and doesn't snore any more ,,,he does still get out of breath and a back ache when his walking but that's something he has to put up with ,,his also had some trainers made for his feet so it will help his ulcers a bit when walking which is good ,his still having problems with his sight and cant go out alone in the dark ,,or in places that are not well lit,,,, well its nearly the schools 6 week holidays ,,daughter Lauren has left school and is going to college to study child care ,,,and jack goes up to year 8,his of to his dads for the 6 weeks he loves going there cos he gets spoilt ,,,and i love him going there cos we get some peace,,lol,well that's my post for today ,,ttfn xxx

holiday in sunny skeg

well its been a long time since i done a update .nothing has really changed with Andrew's health,,his still on dialysis three times a week ,,but recently we had a week in skegness in a caravan at winthorpe ,,,first day we got there Andy was feeling sick ,, we dropped him of at the dialysis centre thinking it was just the traveling,,,but Andy was sick while his was being dialised ,,when he finished a two hour on dialysis,, his blood pressure dropped ,,,it took about three hours for him to recover and he felt well enough to go out ,so we went to the market at fantasy island ,,,when we got back to the caravan after about 3 hours Andy was shivering but felt really hot ,,then he was sick,,followed by a cold sweat,,,i thought here we go again ,,,so we went to the local hospital in skegness and found that Andy had infection in both feet the doctor gave him antibiotics and sent us on,,,good start to the holiday,,Andy was ok after a day of rest , the weather got really hot so that was a bonus and we had a good five days there,,we are hoping to have dialysis at home by september,, i start my training in three weeks at the hospital to put andy on a dailysis machine which could take up to eight weeks but i have done it before so it wont take that long,, in the mean time we are waiting for the work to start in the garden so Andy can have a porta cabin there for dialysis because we have not the space for it all in the house. the hospital got the funding so its all systems go when they get permission from the council to shut the road of to deliver the cabin ,,,it has to be lifted over the top or the house by crane so that's why the road has to be shut of for safety reasons,, i just hope that i can cope with it all, because i no Andy is not the easiest of patients to deal with , any way will keep you updated to all who reads our blog,,,ttfn.xxx

Hello again ,hope you are enjoying my posts ,Andy not any better with his cough but the doctor has seen him again and said its not on his chest ,but he is still waking me up in the night coughing ,he has taken to the sofa a couple of times ,but i can still hear him ,he needs to stop smoking , so do i ,lol,he has gone to the hospital today for calorie counting, because his blood sugars have not been good lately ,i don't think they are when you are not well anyway ,the weather is turning colder and might be having a covering of snow at the weekend,love the snow but not the cold ,I'm going to start my Christmas shopping tomorrow with my mother in law at doncaster ,hope its not to busy, ttfn ,xx, ps would someone who reads this try and leave me a comment so i no its working, thanks ,

headaches,

hello friends ,Andy is still coughing bad and is on his second lot of antibiotics ,its been a bit upsetting, im tired the next day ,and i have been suffering with a lot of headaches lately ,but we will get over it ,we don't think we will be having Christmas down south this year because they have no spaces at the renal unit in Brighton ,so were having it at home with mum and dad children and grandchildren which will be nice ,love the kids around at Christmas, Andy is waiting to hear if his going on the transplant list ,his had lots of test lately but just waiting to hear so fingers crossed ,,last week i helped out at a center me and then i helped make some decorations for the school ,which i really enjoyed doing so i decided to join the tenants association which i will start next month, its only a couple of hours a week so it gets me out and gives me something to do and i like to help people anyway ,my friend Rachel joined and she has panic attacks and is really doing well in her situation because it giving her something to do ,i had my grandson kye today and it was lovely he was really funny ,he is talking really well for a two year old three in June ,he loved it here he didn't wont to go home ,bless ,anyway be back soon, ttfn xx the pic is of kye and leo ,how cute ,xx

cold weather means bad chest,

hello sorry not wrote for sometime ,well Andy has been very well for some time now ,but this week he has a cold which has gone on to his chest his been to his gp today and got some antibiotics, so hopefully will help him,i have been down south to my sister which was great had a good night out ,also saw sister and brother in law who are doing well ,Christmas is looming and like every year its panic time ,but not panicking just yet ,i recently have been in contact with my mum which is nice cos we haven't spoken for years and was nice to see her coping after her loosing my dad this year,i think she misses him and puts on a brave face ,but shes keeping busy . Andy cant wait for the new renal unit in basset law to open it will make life easier for him ,we recently been told it is going to be open earlier than they thought which is good news,we are hoping to go down south for Christmas this year if Andy can get dialysis in Brighton ,for him to have dialysis there some one has to going away as well,so it might not happen yet ,,but fingers crossed,that's it for now, the pic is off Andrew and me at my sister Joanna's 40 birthday party, ttfn xx

just thought id put this pic on of me kye x Leo,x

A new addition ,

At last our new grandson son is here after making a late appearance,,,,he was born on the 31 august at 11.50 ,he weighed 7lb 13 ,and Kelly and mark has named him Leo ,was supposed to be a Leo because he was due on the 21 of august ,i was at the birth along with Kelly's partner mark and marks mum Lyn ,it was so amazing to watch a baby being born ,i was there when she gave birth to kye but i thought that was really heart braking because Kelly had a really bad time ,,but this time she done brilliant,i cried with joy and so did Lyn and mark,talk about proud daddy,Kelly did say she wouldn't have anymore but i think she will,shes a good mum and hope she will cope with two little ones,kye is really good with Leo he keeps going over to the mosses basket and just looking at him ,,,and he held Leo's hand when mark was changing his Nappie,,,how cute,,the picture is baby Leo,1 day old,anyway Andy is doing great his foot is looking a lot better and he is feeling good,the doctor has put him on blood pressure tablets and iron tablets which should make him feel even better,im ok just missing my family down south,jack and Lauren is back at school this week ,jack is starting secondary school so he is looking forward to that and Lauren is on her last year which means lots off hard work which she is not looking forward to,any way im going so ttfn,xx

Im back.

well what can i say,Andy is doing very well after five weeks in hospital ,they didn't operate on him because there was to many big risks,his leg has gone down but still has a little swelling on his foot,he looks allot better ,two weeks ago now i was down south because my dad died ,but it was very nice to meet up with my family down there,i have family i didn't even no i had,missing them already,i stayed at my sister Angela's for a week really enjoyed it ,she has a lovely bungalow ,massive back garden,was good to se her ,not seen anyone in my family for a few years,everyone looking older,lol,stayed with my sister Julie for a night and had a good chat and a laugh,was up till 1 in the morning,then a couple of days later Andy came down with Lauren as he managed to get dialysis down there ,only Thursday till Sunday ,but he really enjoyed it we stopped at Andy's sister Angela's was really nice,she cooked home made bread while we were there was very taste,,cant wait to try it myself,,,Saturday night we went to my sister Joanna's 40 birthday party,was brill we never laughed so much ,Andy didn't want to go back home because he loved it ,he also met my mum for the first time which was great,,,,me and my mum had a nice day out shopping and lunch for the very first time alone which was really nice ,i think my mum has changed so much ,she seems more relaxed with her life ,and happy ,i don't think i never talked so much to mum that day,it made me realise how much i had missed her,i never stopped thinking about my mum so I'm so glad were in touch again,anyway will write again soon ,ttfnxx

my sisters.

got allot to tell you ,but thought you might want to see a pic of me and my sisters ,catch up later when i have more time,

Back to manchester

After the radio active test on Andy they found that a coil on Andy's pancreas had got infected and because Sheffield doesn't specialise with pancreas they have sent him back to Manchester,which could mean a operation ,Andy is really fed up because we was going on holiday in two weeks time so now we don't think we will be able to go ,I'm not going to cancel the holiday just yet I'm going to wait until after the weekend and SE if he has to have this operation,and i don't no if he has to have his pancreas removed or just the coil that's infected,its been a very stress full three weeks but hopefully we will Se some progress ,,,,probably not till next week because planed surgery takes time were as emergency surgery is a emergency,so i can see its going to be another two stress full weeks ahead,because Andy is in Manchester we are going to visit every other day instead of every day because traveling wears us out ,Andy's dad is worn out after driving to Sheffield every day ,well Andy has just phoned me and said it looks like he will have to have a operation ,,,and is just waiting to see the surgeon.so i will no more tomorrow,,,,,,,my daughter Kelly is 35 weeks pregnant and has been having a lot off pain today so I'm looking after my grandson while she is in hospital having a check up,i hope she hasn't gone into labour early ,,,,cant cope ,,,i will keep you up dated ,ttfn xxx

Still not better,

hi again,well after Andy having test after tests,he is still no better,so they decided to stop treatment and let his infection flare up again so they can do a test on him ,they take some blood do something with it then put it back in him while his in this machine and it supposed to attach to the infected areas so they can find out were it is coming from ,they think its in his groin were he had a stent put in ,if it is they going to operate take it out and put another in ,i cant believe its took them two weeks to do this ,Andy is in a lot of pain again and temperature ,also they might put a camera down to his heart to see if he has a heart valve infection ,but they said that a week ago,its ok i no he will get better its just the stress of traveling to hospital every day and looking after to kids and doing house work ,,,its tiring,and i no its tiring for Andy's dad driving to sheffield every day,iv not been well i keep getting really painful legs and bad headaches,it could be stress related but im going to my gp to find out iv had all the paras i can take in 24 hours and im still in pain ,well last week we had two new additions to the family two baby boys how sweet ,finley and jayden above and a new pic of Andy looking a bit better,ttfn xx

Ghosts

me and john (Andy's dad) went to see Andy today he is looking better although his leg and foot is still sore and still has a rash ,they are giving Andy warferine to thin his blood ,and he was told that they are going to put a camera down his throat to look at the back of his heart to make sure he has not got a heart valve infection ,so i hope they give him the all clear ,the other day i was at the hospital and a nurse was crying and shaking and someone was asking her if she was ok ,anyway i didn't think much of it till the next day i went in and Andy said a nurse walked into a empty room and saw a ghost,well i found out it was the nurse i saw crying ,no wander she was shaking ,in a part off the hospital it was a workhouse over 125 years ago then a hospital ,ive all ways felt uncomfortable in a part of the hospital its a long corridor you have to walk to to get to the toilets its always quiet but echo,s when you walk down there,i had to go to the toilets today and i was scared ,it sounds like someone is walking behind you but its just a echo i hope,,,,,,,i have put a picture to show you the long corridor, my kids have been quite good and help full since Andy's been in hospital which im pleased about because they normally play me up ,but they have been good ,jack had his d,a,r,e, at school yesterday which i missed but herd it was really good ,they never had anything like that when i was at school,Andy's niece had a baby boy today after being in labour for 48 hours or so bless her so congratulations Lisa and Kev ,xx, below is a pic of Lauren and jack as well .ttfn.ttfn,xxx.

What is wrong ?

Hello,its been a while so hear goes ,since my last blog Andy done something really stupid and signed himself out off hospital ,he was really fed up he said he was feeling a bit better andjust wanted to come home ,because the doctor said if his scan was ok then he could go ,so three hours after the scan he was waiting to see the doctor but he didn't come so Andy had had enough and signed himself out ,that was a Friday night ,by Sunday Andy was in a lot off pain with his leg and stomach so i said to him to see the doctor when he goes for dialysis on Monday ,anyway he went to dialysis and asked for the doctor but no doctor came ,so when he came home Andy phoned our gp ,and later on that night Andy was in hospital again sheffield this time ,they have done a lot of tests this time but nearly every day something new was wrong with him so we don't really know whats what ,one minute its vasculitus then its a bone disease then it might be a heart valve infection and now today it might be a infection from the last op from a stent he had done ,so we don't really no,i want to ask a doctor but they seem really busy when we are there,so when i get a chance i will,today he is still in pain with his leg and its still swollen with blood rash ,his on morphine for the pain ,and has morphine patches as well ,they might be giving Andy warferine tablets to thin his blood ,then they might be replacing the stent then they might put a camera down to his heart ,so all the might this might that is not going anywhere,so frustrating,but Andy is ok today ,the other day we went to hospital me and Andy's dad that is ,,Andy was out off it just sleeping talking rubbish and not with it at all ,he had a bad hypo that day and he had a lot of morphine for the pain,but it did upset us he looked so poorly even his dad said ive never seen Andy like this before,so i knew he was upset ,,,,,,,on Wednesday i had to take jack to hospital for a cheek up ,he might have to have another operation yet,so im worried about that as well ,im surprised im not in hospital yet with all i have had to deal with ,still life goes on ,,,,,,this is a pic of Andy in hospital,ttfn xxx.

Hospitals again,

its been a while since i wrote my blog because i got addicted to facebook so here goes,nearly two weeks ago i had to go to A and E with my son jack because he had a lot off pain in his middles,when we got there jack was in quiet allot off pain but after half an hour the pain went, so i thought hope he wasn't putting it on ,but he wasn't ,,,he was telling the nurse that he got kicked there at school twice that day ,which i knew nothing about till then ,any way they examined him and took some blood and decided to keep jack in for the night ,so i stayed with him ,in the morning the surgeon came and had a talk with us and it was decided that jack needed a operation to strap on of his testicles down ,so within a hour jack was having a operation ,his dad and step mum drove up from down south worried sick ,which was really nice off them ,and it cheered jack up,the operation wasn't long ,but after jack was in a lot of pain for a few days ,the Doctor said to keep him off school for two weeks ,its been ten days and jack is back to normal,he has a check up in a weeks time then its back to school,thank god ,,,,,,,,, and then Monday evening andy was in a lot of pain in his leg and all weekend he had a temperature and not feeling well at all ,so when i saw he could hardly walk i had a look at his leg and he had a funny looking rash from his ankle up to his thigh it was like blood spot rash ,so i phoned the doctor and we went straight to the surgery to see him ,the doctor took a look at him and said im sending you to hospital for further tests we don't want to leave this as it might be serious ,so we ended up at A and E again ,they kept Andy in for more test and put him on antibiotics ,tomorrow he is going to Sheffield for dialysis then he has to go back to worksop ,cant wait for the new dialysis centre at worksop it will so much easier, so at the moment we dont really no whats wrong ,but Andy says he feels a bit better today,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it was my grandson kye 2nd birthday two weeks ago ,he got spoilt like they do ,but it made me realise how fast time has gone by,,,ttfn,xxx

family birthday

hello again ,well we have had a good week ,last weekend was Andy's dads 70th birthday ,so most of the family came up from down south and we had a bit off a party ,was a surprise but never ended up being one really ,we all chipped in and brought him a new tv ,which he loved ,i think he was really happy when all the grand children and great grand children sang happy birthday to him ,its nice having family up ,pity they didn't stay longer,,,,,,Andy is looking well at the moment even though i no he is not ,the doctor wanted to keep him in hospital last week ,but he didn't want to stay in ,because he said he felt ok ,he has had a scan on his stomach but he doesn't no the outcome off that, next week he is having a echo cardiogram ,and then a on that they put radio active in your blood ,so busy week for Andy next week,well im trying to get our back garden sorted still ,was cutting the front today and it started raining,so will have to finish tomorrow hopefully ,my daughter Lauren has just had a week down south which she really enjoyed,she went to a teens night club and meet a famous rapper ,and she went on the Brighton pier , ,,my son jack is still grounded and on his third week ,he was grounded for a month its that bad i cant tell you what he done ,i don't think he will be in a hurry to do something like it again ,apart from all that got nothing else to say ,so ttfn xx