I really hate to let other people stick my hubby.

[vcarmody]

My husband came home from getting his EPO shot today and informed me he has to go for an in center treatment on Friday to get an Iron Infusion.  Of course they pick Friday because I am working 7AM to 7PM so someone else will have to stick him.  Last time he went to the center for his treatment and Iron Infusion the tech that stuck him managed to make his arm swell and hurt for days.  He asked that the nurse who trained us for Nxstage put his needles in, she said she could only if they were not busy and they could get him in around 10AM, if they are busy and they can't get him in to later then she will not be there to do it.  I am really worried about someone else sticking him.  His few months in center before we started Nxstage were a disaster they infiltrated him so many times, or just couldn't find the vein and keep re-positing the needles or re-sticking him. I told him I do not feel comfortable with anyone else putting his needles in, especially in his buttonholes.  Can I request they use sharps and stay far away from his established buttonholes?   I think he should just tell them he can't come until next week when I have a day off, but he don't think it is all that big a deal.  I wish he would start reading this site and start to realize just how important his fistula is.  He sees me on here all the time and I tell him he should go on here and read up on things but I just cant get him to.  Hopefully I will soon!

[boswife]

oh my goodness,, i just was writing about this in another post about buttonholes.. (well sort of about this)  I am horrified that we have 3 weeks of differnt techs using his buttonholes before i get to begin training.  Even if i got trained NOW they wont let me do it in his center.  I wondered too if it would be better to have them just use other areas until i could take over his buttonhole cannulating.  Hope you get some good info,,,for both of us :-)

[Bruno]

Can't you get to do it at home? At present I am learning to put the iron infusion into the lines over the last hour of dialysis followed by the Aranesp in the last 10 minutes. I'm on the Fresenius system.

[silverhead]

If I was in your place I would insist they use another site on the Fistula, protect the buttonholes at all costs, personally I would call in sick on Friday and request a date for next week. As an aside, when we ran into something similar in the past, I took her into our local medical clinic, to their Infusion department and had the Iron put into her other arm over a several hour period......

[greg10]

Can't you get to do it at home? At present I am learning to put the iron infusion into the lines over the last hour of dialysis followed by the Aranesp in the last 10 minutes. I'm on the Fresenius system.

Hi Bruno. Thanks for your posts.  I am assuming you are from Australia?
There are obscure Medicare regulations in the US that govern what can be administered in center and at home.  Apparently iron infusion is not one that can be done at home:
http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2010/08/under-the-bundle-why-cant-home-dialyzors-self-administer-iron-and-vitamin-d.html

@vcarmody:  please take B12 and iron supplement orally if you are not already doing so.  Many protein shakes contain whey protein and ferritin and they will also help with the body's iron absorption.

[vcarmody]

Thanks Greg, My husband has always been afraid to take anything the doctor has not ordered because his kidneys still function a little and he does not want to lose that function.  But I'm sure B12 and Iron will not affect that, I never thought of him taking Iron or B12, he does take a multi vitamin.   We do not have Medicare but we still can not get them to let us do anything at home not even his EPO.  They say if they give us the EPO they will need a pharmacy license (which is bull because they give us the Heparin).  So instead my husband makes the trip to his center ever week for his injection.  I have been fighting this for about three months now and have even considered changing clinics to one that is a bout 20 minutes farther away.  These weekly trips were hard on my husband because he has been battling and open wound and infection in his foot and has been told to stay off his feet at all cost and using crutches when you have no energy is a task. On Sept 24th they removed a bone in his foot and now he is finally cleared, no more infection and the wound is closed. The clinic that is father away has some pluses and some minuses, they allow you to do EPO at home, but they do pure flow and we do bags, not sure I want to mix on top of everything else. Silverhead, my husband is finally listening to me a little he said if the nurse he requested can not do his needles then he is going to reschedule till next week.  The nurse he requested is actually the one that started the button holes and then I just took them over when I started sticking him.  Thank you all for your advise, any other suggestion please keep them coming.  We need all the help we can get.  He has only been on D for 1 year and 1 month so we are still newbies at all this. 

[silverhead]

Don't be afraid of the Pureflow, I loved it compared to all the hassle that bags entail, when we did have the occasion to have to use bags because of various uncontrollable problems it just seemed like to much hassle, making a batch only takes a few minutes of your time and if you are using 20 liters per session you only have to do it every 3 days, not to mention the "solution" bags come 2 to a small box, much easier to deal with then all the box's of bags you are now dealing with every month.....
Tom.

[1sickbob]

We ran into the same issue with my iron infussions.  We go for our Dr/Nurse visit once a month, and my wife will stick me for the infussion if we are using the fistula.  The last time there the nurse did a regular type IV line and pushed it through there over about a half hour time period.
I refuse to have anyone but my wife access my fistula. It is ours to screw up and we are SO MUCH better at taking care of it.