Steal syndrome

[jackiemich]

Hello all,
By doing a google search I found this very informative site and now have a question for you all.  First, a little bit about me.  I found that I had kidney disease in June of 2008, but probably had it a lot longer than that.  I just either ignored the symptoms or attibuted it to something else.  Like standing on my feet all day, working too hard or just getting older (i am 41).  I finally went to the doc after my eye sight went blurry and my feet and ankles swelled so much that I couldn't even put on a pair of tennis shoes.  After all the tests were run, found out I had CKD, which has progressed to ESKD in Febuary of this year.  Diabetes and high blood pressure and a lovely kidney infecion are the reasons mine finally gave out on me. 
So in March I had fistula surgery in my left arm.  Unfortunetly this has given me nothing but problems.  Due to the diabetes, I don't have good veins in my lower arm so they went for an upper arm fistula.  Since the surgery I have been unable to use my arm, which is not a good thing because I am a cashier who has to use my arm all the time.  After a few minutes of just using my arm, whether it be working or helping around the house with dinner and laundry, I get the worst pain in my lower arm.  My hand is constantly numb and tingling.  I also get horrible hand cramps when I use my left hand too much. 
I went back to the surgeon in April. He said that I had a steal syndrome and since he coud'nt move it down further on my arm because of my bad veins, he is going to have to take a vein from my leg and move it up to my arm.  Needless to say, this is quite scary for me and I was wondering if anyone else had this procedure done to them.  I guess my question is did it help with the pain?  Would I have better luck with an artificial graft? 
I am not on dialysis yet even though my numbers are really sucky.  The doc is basically waiting to see if my next surgery will work before we start that.  Plus I don't really feel that bad yet so trying to push it off as long as possible.  Thanks for the help!




EDITED: Moved to Introduce yourself section- Sluff/Admin

[willieandwinnie]

  jackie. You have found a wonderful and informative site. I am a caregiver and can't answer your questions, but someone will come along and help you out. We are great for support when you need it also. Please post often and check the older threads as they contain all kinds of stuff. 

[paul.karen]

 

Wow that really sucks.  Sorry i dont have an answer for you but i hope they sort it out fast for you and you can start dialysis and feel better.
Hope to see you on many of the threads.
P&K

[Romona]

 

[Joe Paul]

Welcome jackie, good to have you aboard.

[G-Ma]

 

[twirl]

hey

[monrein]