Week One Training

Our first week of training went well! We had a lot of early mornings heading to Iowa City last week. Then, we had to leave about 1 PM because Aaron would have to be back in time for baseball. It is a tiring process, but worth it since it's a FOR SURE that Blake gets to come home on FRIDAY!!!

Aaron and I both feel like we're catching onto things quickly and the nurse that is training us seems pleased with us. She had us penciled in to train for 3-4 hours a day, but we usually only go for 2-2 1/2 hours because we get done what we need to.

There's a lot to learn besides just hooking Blake up to the machine. The hardest part is that if something isn't right, alarms go off on the cycler and we need to be able to trouble shoot them. We also have learned things like how we need to give him a bath, exit site care and how to change his dressing over his PD catheter.

Our nurse who trains us will randomly ask us questions to quiz us over what we have learned. It's kind of nerve wracking, but Aaron and I can handle our own. She asks us questions like: What do you do if his drain bag is cloudy? What if it has white fibers in it? What do you do if a tube gets a hole in it? What do you do if the tornado sirens go off in the middle of his dialysis? What medicines can you give him for fever/pain? What can't you give him? Ok, you get the idea... :)

We have a busy week ahead getting ready for Blakers to come home and our whole family is counting down the days!!