For those of you not familiar with dialysis, let me tell you, this machine is a miracle in itself. The way the blood goes into the filter and then the filter works as your kidney would is incredible. Medical technology has come a long way. Thank God for this!! Without it, Bradley and so many others would not be alive today.
Because we knew Bradley's dialysis treatments were temporary, he had a 'tesio' catheter placed in his chest instead of the fistula in the arm which is the usual procedure for long term patients. This was a blessing because if Bradley had to have a fistula that would mean they would have to use a needle each time to access his vein for dialysis. At least this way, Bradley had no discomfort whatsoever while getting dialysis treatments. They just hooked the machine up to his catheter, and Bradley was 'free' for 4 hours to do whatever he wanted within the comfy confines of his chair.
These weren't just ordinary chairs...they were really comfortable recliners that had their own tv/computer touch screen. Bradley loved playing solataire and some of the other games on the computer, as well as, watching American Idol with all the staff.
Bradley made such great friends with a lot of the nurses that work there. They have been so great to him since day one. One of the male nurses, Justin, became Bradley's bff at dialysis. Whenever Bradley would show up there, the first thing he would ask, 'Is Justin working today?' If so, Bradley would have this huge smile on his face and they would goof off together the rest of the evening....so much that I think they moved Justin to the other side of the center so he would concentrate on work instead of goofing off. Haha
There were many a times when I was caught in the imaginary crossfire between those two. Justin would duck behind the nurses desk and then poke his head up like he had a machine gun pointed at Bradley. Then Bradley would throw some imaginary bombs his way...hey whatever it takes to pass the time right!!???
Leaving dialysis is going to be a little sad...only a little sad though!! We can definitely go back to visit every now and again, and Bradley has hopefully made some great friends for life.
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