Fistula surgery tommorow!

[Phil]

Finally after 15 years knowing it would eventually happen, tommorow morning I will be getting my fistula! I know its minor surgery, but mentally its a first big step....got alot of mixed feelings! Wish me luck






EDITED:Fixed title error-kitkatz,Moderator

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

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[billybags]

Phil, you will be fine, good luck to-morrow.

[Dianejt]

Good Luck Phil, we will be thinking of you. Let us know how it went.

[Stoday]

Don't worry. Losing a tooth at the dentist's is worse.

[kitkatz]

Good luck sweetie. Mine is coming up soon, too.

[Phil]

Just got back from the hospital...I have my fistula! Surgery was fine.....no pain really....but my surgery lasted unusually long (2 1/2 hrs) and by the end I had a TERRIBLE backache from having to stay completely still on the opering table for all that time! lol

I can feel the thrill great, and now my arm is a bit sore....

Thankyou all for your supporttttt!

[Tracy]

I just started D last week.  Got my fistula in Feb.  It all works out. It was a little scary, but I do Feel better.  Good Luck!

It is just a new chapter in your life. 

[jdwills83]

Phil,

Good luck man! Getting my fistula was a major battle for me.. I kept putting it off because I new it would mess up my arm and the scar would be hard to hide.  To make matters worse, I had to get surgery on the fistula to widening it because the squeeze exercises where not helping it mature.

trust me though, its all worth it in the end... and now when I shower I take extra long because I never know when I might not get to again.

[monrein]

Let us know how it went Phil and I hope you'll find it much easier than you've been worrying about.

[galvo]

Hope it went OK, Phil,.

[Phil]

ITs been 5 days since the surgery for my fistula..all seems to be fine....its just reallllyyyy weird getting used to feeling the thrill in my arm.....lol

[Wat76]

Phil,

 I had my surgery a week and a half ago, what am i suppose to feel.  I just got the nerve to touch it and don't feel or hear a thing.  Am i suppose to feel something.

[Phil]

Wat76 - Well....I feel what I think people refer to as 'the thrill' which is basically my blood running through my artery.....thats a good thing because it means that the fistula is working and maturing...I think/hope lol

[Wat76]

I don't feel a thing, hope mines is working.  No pain, none of the things others are describing.  When you touch the area, are you suppose to feel something.  Help me out family, especially those who have had their fistulas longer.

[monrein]

YES, you should feel something (that's called the thrill) and you should hear something too (that's called the bruit...it means noise or sound in French).  Sometimes people need a stethescope to hear the bruit but if you can't feel it or hear it, call you doctor's office today...right now and tell them. 

[MooseMom]

Yes, do please have it checked.  I went to see my surgeon not too long ago to have mine checked because the thrill was so intense that it was driving me nuts.  He said it was "excellent", but it still drives me nuts.

[Stoday]

You should check for the thrill every day. You can't miss it, it's very obvious. If it's not there, get back to the hospital without delay because you might lose your fistula.

[Dameeka]

Phil, I'm glad that the surgery went well. Make sure that you use one of those sqeeze balls to help mature it and feel that thrill everyday.

[Wat76]

Hi All,

Just returned from my follow-up appointment, as I explained earlier, i have never felt anything with my fistula., nothing that everyone was describing, Well I have to have another surgery, the first placement did not work, when they told me it was not working, i bust out crying.  They are going to put it in my upper arm, same arm.  Don't know what happended and you talk about upset, i am very upset.  It took a lot for me to go in and get the surgery, now it has to be done again.  I am devastated.

[silverhead]

It's funny how the Fistula makers never, ever tell the patient that it is very common for a second or third revision or correction is needed to get things going right, but from reading all the comments on IHD, it is the norm to get it working well........

[MooseMom]

It's funny how the Fistula makers never, ever tell the patient that it is very common for a second or third revision or correction is needed to get things going right, but from reading all the comments on IHD, it is the norm to get it working well........

  It took 18 months and a visit to a top vascular surgeon before my mom got a good working fistula, but then again, she was in her late 70's at the time and was not the most robust person in the world, especially after having had major surgery and a difficult rehab.  But man, once that surgeon crafted her upper arm fistula, she was good to go; he was so proud of it that he took photos!

Wat, I think your surgeon was remiss in not telling you that revisions are common, just like silverhead said.  The one good thing to come out of this (OK, so I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here) is that now you know what to expect as far as the actual surgery goes.

[natnnnat]

Its possible that people who post are those who have a story to tell.  Gregory reckons his fistula went in right the first time and he never had trouble with it.  He comments that the older people in the ward had more trouble than the younger ones (and he was 19) and that it depends on your veins (and he has those big, ropy, sticking out man-veins too).  Just posting this so to add another "fistula which had no complications" story to the mix.

[RightSide]

Well I have to have another surgery, the first placement did not work, when they told me it was not working, i bust out crying.  They are going to put it in my upper arm, same arm.  Don't know what happended and you talk about upset, i am very upset.  It took a lot for me to go in and get the surgery, now it has to be done again.  I am devastated.

I had to have FOUR surgeries, before I got one that would work.

The first fistula clotted.

The second one ruptured (and the torrential bleeding could have killed me if I hadn't raced to the emergency room in time).

The third one stenosed (narrowed).

The fourth one finally worked.  But nine months elapsed from the time of the first surgery to the time that I was successfully cannulated with the fourth fistula.

The first three surgeries never worked.