Catheter failed to work

At dialysis today, they could not get the catheter to work. The nurse tried clearing it out with clot buster, but nothing.

So they called transport to pick G up. I knew nothing until the transport people phoned me, asking what I knew. I called the dialysis center, spoke with the receptionist who only knew "he's done"., so I asked to speak with the nurse who told me what happened.

She said they put in a call to the VA.

Long story short, G was transported to the VA emergency room, and after an hour os so the surgical resident gave instructions for the ER to draw blood, keep G there until the results came in. They confirmed his blood clotting was very thin, 2.8 INR, so they admitted him to the hospital. They will give him vitamin K to thicken up the blood, because if the blood is too thin it's not good to do surgery (which is what caused the stroke before).

Tomorrow he will go in for surgery to put in a new catheter. But, I fear they won't be able to do it because of blood clots. I hope I am wrong.

I spent quite a lot of time on the phone with the nurse for his primary care Dr., whom he was to see tomorrow. I said "I need someone to advocate for G", that "there does not seem to be any plan B in place in case the catheter fails" (this was even before I knew the catheter had already failed).

Yesterday G was in complete denial that things would go wrong, and he would die. I have decided he doesn't want to talk about it, so I don't. I understand his wish to deny what might happen. Sometimes it's healthy to be in denial.

I took dinner to him at the hospital A nice salad, pasta with red sauce, fresh strawberries, and a slice of lemon meringue pie. He will be NPO after midnight, so he should at least enjoy some good food now.

At least "super nurse" was taking care of him.

Tomorrow's another day.