I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Off-Topic => Other Severe Medical Conditions => Topic started by: Kevin76 on October 12, 2009, 09:19:01 AM
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My mother is 62 y/o on hemo-dialysis 3x per week for about 4 yrs now and is not on the transplant list. She also suffers from diabetes and various other health issues including anemia occasionally due to internal bleeding or other unknown factors. Last week, in prep for another unrelated surgery that required general anesthesia, her doctor referred her to have her heart condition checked via a catheterization. The heart surgeon doing the test found that all arteries around the heart were severely blocked and he was not even able to get in far enough to insert a stent. Based on the results, the heart surgeon has recommended having a coronary bypass procedure done asap(suggesting it be scheduled within a week). He did mention that the heart itself was fairly strong. Her regular cardiovascular doc says that it will not need to be done that quickly and we have some time to make a decision. In the past several years, she has also had a couple of what doctors call 'mini-strokes' believed to be related to low blood pressure, which now it seems may be a result of the underlying vascular condition.
My question is has anyone else had this type of surgery done with the additional complication of also being on dialysis? Any experiences and insight on what to expect pre and post-operatively would be appreciated. How was dialysis handled immediately before and after the procedure? Were there any complications or considerations related specifically to kidney failure or diabetes? The heart surgeon does not seem to feel that the fact she is on dialysis is a huge factor and has performed this surgery on dialysis patients before. At this point, we have not gotten a final recommendation from her doctors, but we do know that she had some stomach bleeding and anemia occur since the catheter procedure, which they will need to get under control before anything else is done.