Tunnel catheter removed and no fistula

[komomai]

Aloha I started having the coldshakes on April 1st my 60th birthday and my temp went way up.  The doctor suggested that I go to the ER
Instead I went home and started feeling better and my temp dropped to normal.  The next an hour into my session I started the shakes again along
With a fever.  This time I got addmited to the hospital and began treatments with antibiotics.  Today lab tests show an infection, so out came the tunnel catheter,  they had a hard time taking it out claiming because of inflammation I felt a little pain.  Now the problem is I don't have a
Fistula so its back to either the chest catheter or one in my leg.  Either way I'm stuck in the hospital for awhile.  Oh yeah talked to a vascular
Surgeon he Wii  test my arms with an echo to see if he can do a fistula on Friday, the other option is a stint using a tube which I don't
Want because of high risk of infections.  Oh yeah I doing this in a Japanese hospital and my nihogo isn't great, also the food sucks.😷

[komomai]

Aloha All, a little update, today the Doctor showed me through the echo machine my arteries and veins both in my neck area and in my leg.  The neck veins were very small and the arteries were okay.  In my leg both of them were good.  So they tried the chest catheter first didn't work, then they tried my left leg and suddenly the Doctor stopped and said he will have to put pressure on my leg for 15 minutes as he went through the arteries and was worried about internal bleeding.  He showed me on the echocardiogram machine what he was talking about thank goodness there was no blood leaking out from the artery.  That meant the right legs now he was successful  I now have a temp. catheter.  I'm awaiting a fistula after my infection is cured.  So it's more time in the hospital for me.

[Charlie B53]

Infection and temperature often act strange.  The body can stabilize a normal temp by day, and yet run a temp at night. With the temp dropping to normal or very near normal again the next day.

This can often lead a person to falsely think they are OK while the infection grows.

I have made this mistake, a couple of times.

Now that I am on PD, not Hemo yet, but I have finally learned to call in at the first signs of a temp.  Get it checked out hopefully before it becomes too serious a problem.  As the last time I didn't, I spent 12 days in the hospital. And I hope I don't make that mistake again.

Take Care, and I hope your fistula goes well and matures quickly so you be rid of that catheter as soon as possible.

Charlie B

[komomai]

i'm still in the hospital with a temp. catheter in my upper thigh.  The good thing as I explained to my doctors that at work I mostly sit at my desk, typing on my computer and answering questions on the phone, so they let me go for the day until about 2 P.M. when I come back for my 3 hours hemodialysis session.  Tomorrow will be my final day of the 14 days of IV antibiotics, seems like it worked and killed the infection.

Today after hemodialysis in the A.M. I went to do an echogram on my left arm for my AV fistula.  They were 3 vasular surgeons there while looking at my left arm they said my veins were good, the issue was my arteries which had calcficatons in them.  After much discussion among the 3 surgeons they looked at my legs to remove a vein to use as a graft and with that the surgeon said to me we just went from a simple small operation to a large one.  He also mentioned that they don't want to use an artificial stint as I already had 2 infections which caused me to lose my PD and then my tunnel catheter, but to use my real veins as a graft. 

A couple of questions, how long to heal so I can get back to work, and will they use a local or knock me out?

Aloha,
Komomai