Chest pain and a hospital stay - post #2

So a few days ago I posted about how and why I ended up in the hospital. Currently I have spent 4 nights in the hospital and since my last post I have had a total of 6 chest x-rays, two thoracentesis's, surgery on my left arm fistula, and a cat scan. And a lot of other issues inbetween.... lol. Over the last few days my Nephrologist tried a few 'tricks' to reduce the fluid under the lung, such as only putting one liter of fluid in my abdomen insteads of two. Unfortunatly that plan didn't work and during my thoracentesis on Thursday they pulled out one litre of fluid from under my right lung, more than what was pulled out the first time.



The current end result is that I have been removed from doing Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) and today (supposedly before noon) they are placing a direct line into my chest. This will serve as a temporary access for doing hemodialysis. In a few weeks my fistula on my left arm should be ready and then the direct line access can be removed. My Doctor is also hoping that the hole in my diaphragm (which is what has caused the fluid to leak) will heal itself over the next few weeks so that I can return to doing PD. I did talk to my Doctor and let him know that if there is anything humanly possible (including surgery) I am willing to do it so that I can keep doing PD. As I've tried to explain in other posts, although I'm not sure if I've been able to make it make sense, Peritoneal Dialysis is a lot better for me than Hemodialysis will be. With PD I have a lot more freedom, sure its an every day thing but its mainly at night and so it allows me to feel good during most days, and to spend quality time with my family. Quality as in feeling good and being active. The issue with Hemodialysis is that it is done in center and takes 4-6 hours three times a week. The process of hemodialysis is very hard on the body and patients usually spend a lot of time feeling sick. My main concern has been not being able to be the mother I want to be. I want to continue to teach my children at home and that could change if I was on HD permanently.

If you would like more information on what the different types of Dialysis entail, please check out these links:
http://www.davita.com/treatment-options/choosing-the-right-treatment/what-are-my-dialysis-choices?/t/5415
http://everything.explained.at/Dialysis/

And if you've ever considered being a live donor and donating one of your kidneys to a person in need, check out these sites:
http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/beadonor.cfm
http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/kidney/kidney2.htm