Early morning start - West Footscray unit fire

So this happened in the wee hours of the morning ...It woke us up, we could smell the fire: https://foreignaffairs.co.nz/2018/08/27/mil-osi-australia-crews-pull-occupant-from-west-footscray-unit-fire/

While I was in the middle of a shower at 8.30am our water went off because some one from either Melbourne Water or City West Water had come down to flush the line (after the fire brigade used it). Flip!

Guardian Australia news article about actor Jack Thompson doing haemodialysis in outback Australia

Came across an article in the Guardian AU today and found it interesting and informative.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/13/happy-to-be-alive-jack-thompson-garma-and-a-purple-dialysis-truck

Ref: The Guardian AU image from 13/08/18

This is very familiar,  "it's above 30C outside but the tubes running his blood from his arm into a dialysis machine have caused a slight chill." Jack might need a heated vest or jacket!

Shout out to the big red kidney bus -  https://kidney.org.au/bus and the purple truck - https://www.purplehouse.org.au/communities/the-purple-truck for providing these much needed services to dialysis patients who live remotely or who wish to travel within Australia.

Time line of Dialysis

I thought it could be a good idea to document my time on dialysis.

The downhill climb for my kidneys started much earlier than this...1996/97. Good old lupus nephritis. On top of that I found out I also have anti-phospholipid syndrome and suffered my first mini stroke.

Timeline

02/12/2007 - Start PD, tenchoff catheter installed in abdomen.
05/04/2010 - Still on PD. Able to work and lead an almost normal life.
??/01/2013 - Still on PD when I broke my leg.
??/02/2013 - At home with broken leg and still on PD.
??/11/2013 - Ended PD with major infection. Started HD with a permacath.
10/10/2015 - Get the call to have a kidney transplant
20/10/2015 - Acute rejection of transplanted kidney. The rejection happened pretty much straight away. I ended up very sick. Still doing HD.
18/11/2015 - Was discharged from hospital after the failed transplant but ended back in almost straight away.
02/01/2016 - Finally out of the hospital again.
Currently   - HD continues on in-centre.

Total Dialysis = 11 years! 

Seeya Dad - Sorry you had to have a shit ending

This is a picture of my Dad in hospital in July 2018 before he deteriorated very quickly. He had an aggressive cancer in his brain.

Born 17/07/1947. Died 04/08/18. Aged 71. Too young for someone so fit. 

The picture below is of Dad and all his children. I'm the one standing with the daggy hat. Must have been at a time when I lost my hair. My brother is there and my two sisters.Taken in June 2011.

I'll miss you Dad.

I just found this last photo, picture with Jo, me, Brad and Dad. Taken in March 2011.

Link to web page that provides a step by step guide for wiping a Dell computer hard drive

Link to web page that provides a step by step guide for installing Linux on a old dell PC. This info is provided for a dialysis nurse who needs to wipe an old dell PC.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/au/en/audhs1/sln151664/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en#Setup_the_Ubuntu_Install

Preparation: Be sure to plug in both a keyboard and a mouse. In the early stages of the procedure only the keyboard can be used. The mouse can be used once the graphical user interface loads (when Ubuntu is up and running).

Put in USB drive first: First put the USB drive in the PC. Turn on the PC after the USB drive is definitely plugged in.

After turning the PC on, quickly hit the F12 key on the keyboard. This should bring up a boot once menu.You can only use the keyboard keys to navigate the options. Choose boot USB.

Refer to the guide provided by the dell link above.

Important Notes: 

• We do not need to complete the install process and we do not need to connect to a network to download updates while the install occurs.

• At step 7 DO NOT download updates etc, leave the options here unchecked. If asked to connect to wifi via the following step - choose "I don't want to connect to a wifi network right now."

• For installation type just select erase disk and install Ubuntu. and then click the button that says install now.

• Unfortunately you may need to fill in some info under 'Configuring the Ubuntu Install.' Refer to the weblink for a guide.
  
  You could just enter dummy (rubbish but compliant) info all the way - we are only doing these steps to install over the drive and wipe the original data.

While the system installs some pictures will display highlighting the features of the Ubuntu system. The progress of the installation (and therefore wiping of the drive) will also be shown.

When the installation finishes you will see 'the Installation is complete' message. 

To confirm the drive is wiped, select the restart option (button).

This will restart the computer and load the fresh Ubuntu install which will confirm the hard drive is wiped.

As the computer restarts, remove the USB drive to ensure it does not load up again.

There are easier ways to wipe the hard drive using Linux methods but unfortunately I did not have any media to install dban onto and the instructions for using other methods seem a bit complex for the intended audience.

Note: To find my email address check the info in the about me section next to my picture at the top right of this page. Access the info under view my complete profile. You can also leave comments on this page.