Technicians, Plumbers, Electrician….bah!

What a stressful day!

Today was the day that my house had to get assessed for my dialysis machine. At 10 minutes to 9am, the first person came: the tech.

He briefly looked around my room and seemed pretty pleased with what he saw. He was happy with the fact that there was a washroom/water supply right in my room. He said that it made things a lot easier. We discussed where in my room would be best for the machine to go. He said that the machine should go on the left side of the bed, as that would be the side closest to the fistula in my arm. I agreed, however based on how my room is set up, putting the machine on that side is going to mean the removal/dismantling and re-assembly of my bed, or the temporary relocation of the tv in my room and the fridge upon which it rests.

Soon thereafter, the plumbers came. The main plumber’s name was Joe, and his partner’s name was Andrew. The came into my room and moved the big vanity typed thing that was against the wall which they planned to cut open. I told them that I was going to sit downstairs in the living room as I had no interest in watching them cut a hole in my wall, install pipes, etc.

Soon after I sat down, Joe called me upstairs. When I got there, he said “Why didn’t you tell me that you’re having problems with your pipes? It’s plugged and water isn’t draining down properly!”

I almost blushed. I never even thought of it. And so what if I DID tell him ahead of time? Was he gonna pack up and leave?

He told me that he’d try and fix it, but if he couldn’t he’d have to call the hospital and ask them what they want to do, because if he couldn’t fix it the way he was going to try, he’d need to rip the floor apart to get to the pipes to see what was going on. The fact that his bill was going to be charged directly to the hospital was the reason why he’d have to call them first….they may not be willing to pay for such a large job!

Thankfully, after about an hour and a half, both Joe and Andrew were able to find what was blocking the pipes. Joe came downstairs to where I was sitting holding a red bucket and asked me if I had a strong stomach. I said “NO!” but he proceeded to show me what was blocking my pipes anyways. It was hair. A whole bunch of hair. Thankfully not as gross as I thought. I followed Joe upstairs so he could show me how to use the water system that he had just installed for me. He also explained to me why the pipe was blocked and how he fixed it and it shouldn’t happen again. I was pleased because our drains were no longer blocked, and also because it wasn’t going to take a huge job of tearinig my house apart to fix it!

Earlier while the plumbers were working, Mark the electrician came. His visit was nothing more than an assessment, and he’s supposed to come back next Friday. He was also pleased with the setup of my house and seemed to think that he should be able to do the job just fine.

What a stressful day! It was stressful because the plumbers and electrician were asking me stuff that I didn’t know! Luckily everything worked out. My Dad wasn’t home because he and my mother went to Niagara falls so that my dad could accept an award that he won (my dad is ALWAYS winning awards! 🙂 )

Well I’m glad that’s over. I look forward to getting all of this stuff done and finally getting the dialysis machine in my house!