How much does Dialysis cost?

Curious? How much does it cost to keep Rob alive?

Here's proof.

Rob's first full month of dialysis in February.



No, don't fetch your eyeglasses, don't reach for those Visine eyedrops. You read that right. 35,000 dollars. For one month's treatment.

When we first got that "bill" in the mail, I was shocked. I told Rob, "That has to be for more than just your dialysis. Maybe that includes your 5 day hospital stay at Duke in January?"

But no, I was sadly wrong. We ended up getting that one in the mail, separate from the dialysis "bills" - that 5 day stay was around 15K.

So here's the bill for dialysis during the month of March:



WOW-ee!

So a month of dialysis costs as much as Rob makes in a year. No wonder Medicare helps out, for people who don't have insurance. Thank God for our health insurance!

We can't wait to find out how much HOME dialysis will cost in comparison to the IN-CENTER dialysis (which the bills above are for). I'll have to post up when the bills come for that, if it's substantially more or less than 35K a month.

We can't wait for a transplant! And we hope one comes along soon.

We are now doing home dialysis 5 nights a week @ 30 liters of dialysate, instead of the old prescription of 6 nights a week @ 25 liters. This frees up another day/night so that we can feel more normal and less like a dialysis patient/caretaker.

Yay! Things are looking up for us! Now...to find Rob a new job that gives him weekends off, so that we can have more dialysis-free time together. And the ability to go on weekend trips together. Hmmm, someday...I hope.

A fun way to waste time on the internet...

when you're sore, tired, exhausted from riding a very challenging ride at Beaver Dam yesterday.

Check it out. This is our beagle Taylor.


moar funny pictures

I'm addicted now. Gonna go make some more!

I feel like a kid again

HOT! HOT! HOT! I think this is the 5th day in a row with 98+ degree temperatures, with heat indexes in the low 100's, ugh!

I bought one of those blow-up backyard pools from Target yesterday with intentions of using it to cool off/chill out in after a hot bike ride home from work or after completing some yard work. So I mowed half of the backyard (it's a pretty big yard, and it seems even bigger when it's 105 outside!) and then set up the pool. Even with an air compressor, it took about 10 minutes to inflate. I hate to think how long it would take with one of those crappy foot pumps the pools come with!

Here it is, all set up with fresh COLD water from the hose.



It was so cold that I had to inch into it like I was one of those water aerobics ladies at Campus Hills who always complain that the pool is "too cold" even when it's a steamy 84 degrees!

The pool is a nice 10 feet across. That means I can take one-half stroke and reach the other side. I tried to flip turn, but strangely my head hits the bottom. So then I tried an open turn, but my knees scraped the bottom and when I dropped my inside elbow, that too, scraped the bottom - reminding me of the pool we swim at in Greensboro every year!



I can't believe it! Only 528 laps in this pool and I've swum a mile!

I had so much fun swimming my half-stroke laps of freestyle in my new pool, that I decided to try a little backstroke.

Something's a little funky with my backstroke lately. Hummph? It felt like my catch wasn't deep enough or something? Or perhaps something is wrong with my kick? Maybe my swimming friends can check it out and offer suggestions.



Oh well, at least it doesn't hurt when I miss the flags and bump my head into the wall...

I'm so freakin' funny it hurts sometimes! :)