The First REAL Peritoneal Clinic Experience

Just when I think I have heard it all.......something from the old, bad Jonesboro clinic comes back to haunt me. I would like to start off this post by saying I have always tried to have a positive attitude for the old PD clinics negligence, but today I think I have lost any and all respect for them.

So, I go to my first official PD clinic in Memphis today and let me tell you it was unlike any PD clinics in the past. Comparing Memphis to Jonesboro is like night and day. I got to meet with the doctor and the whole professional team. The doctor was knowledgeable, gave me straight answers and was able to explain my labs to me in a way I could understand exactly what each number meant. She was very professional and thorough....something I never experience here in Jonesboro. I left the clinic with a good feeling that these people are going to help get me well and take good care of me.

So here is the information I learned today. I started PD (peritoneal dialysis) in June of 2009 in Jonesboro. In June of 09 I should have been given a very patient specific and sensitive test to determine what type of solutions I should use to get a good clearance with my PD. Clearance basically refers to the amount of toxins I am removing from my body. You do this by urinating, but since I know longer have that ability I rely on my dialysis to cleanse my blood and pull off the fluid, that I cannot pee out. This test is called a PET test and takes 5 hours in clinic to complete BEFORE ever beginning home PD. Guess when the Jonesboro clinic did my test? NEVER! They basically pulled a generic solution prescription out of their "you know what" and said here try this! So here it is 10 months later and I have been UNDER DIALYZED this entire time. You read that right! For the entire time that I was at the Jonesboro clinic and on PD, I have not been properly dialyzed. My creatinine has been at 16! Yours is probably 0.7- 1.0. I should be somewhere around 5 or 6.....but no, Jonesboro was satisfied with 16! This also explains why I vomit daily. My old nephrologist here could never figure out why I puke all of the time.....but today I got my answer. Having all of those toxins floating in my blood makes you sick! Cannot believe he dint have the sense to figure that out. I have basically had one foot in the grave this entire time! If it wasn't for how strict I am with my diet, fluids and meds I probably would be dead. How did Jonesboro not kill me? How many others have they killed? (Would like to add that the Jonesboro clinic I attended has the highest mortality rate in the area.)

I have not been so angry until now. This doctor and his staff (Jonesboro) should NOT be in business. I don't think he should have a medical license. He has a license to kill in my opinion. You know, it's like a good friend of mine said. Its more than just numbers. These numbers reflect my body and how it is or isn't working. This is my life he was toying with. I mean, you go to medical school and become a nephrologist and you cant even correctly dialyze your patients? I am so disgusted with them.

But on the bright side, I have a great new team to work with. We are going to conduct the PET test next week to determine the right dialysis treatment that will be best for me. So at least I got out before it was too late. My new team feels confident that they will get me dialyzed correctly and help me get a good clearance. I am so blessed to have this new group. I also got to come off of a blood pressure med today! Bye Bye Lisinopril. That leaves me with only one blood pressure med! The new doctors are fabulous and intelligent and to be quite honest, these clowns here in Jonesboro are a joke! And if you decide to do dialysis here in Jonesboro, you might as well go on over to the funeral home and make arrangements........because in this town, that is your fate!

Take it from me, go to Memphis or STL or anywhere but this place!