Cat

blood stream has a desire to take advantage of them: they are like two holes in a dike and are the ‘easy way out’ for the blood.

For a fistula, the dialysis needles are taken out in reverse order: the downstream needle (closer to returning to your heart) is taken out first and covered with _a lot_ of gauze and then pressure-bandaged to your arm (or leg) to plug the hole. This combined with either hand-pressure or a mechanical (plastic) pressure system will enable the body to close the hole without the blood streaming through it getting in the way. The second needle is done the same way, but (for me at least, post-dialysis when my blood has been replenished), this one has a lot more pressure on it and is more likely not to close properly if anything is amiss.

An unclosed 2mm hole sprays blood into and then through the gauze very quickly. Then down your arm. Onto the chair, floor, neighboring patient, helpful RNs, and so on. The solution is simple though: be like the little Dutch boy and stick your finger into the dike… until a technically savvy nurse with a lot more gauze can come and help. As mentioned above, this has happened to me multiple times, and by just using the ‘Dutch method’, I have managed to live through all of them.

CAT

The amber light from the streetlight is casting a glow that makes the hedges look black. ‘Black on black’ would be hard to see, but that is not the spectrum that I use for this kind of task.

Earlier a family of raccoons wandered by in search of water, fish, trash cans, or whatever their nightly need was. A skunk ventured right by me, but I didn’t move and Pepe Le Pew did not notice me.

I have been sitting here for a couple hours, hoping to see the runaway in what may be their periodic trail. I am sure they are nearby: