fistula or catheter

[jambo101]

 Been on the catheter for 4 months now and its a painless no hassle way of hooking up to dialysis machine ,well this week they determined my fistula was ready so  they started jabbing me with a big needle for the outflow but kept the catheter for the return.
problems with fistula is you cant move your arm for 4 hours effectively making you one handed then when the session is over you get to sit around for an extra 15 minutes until the bleeding stops. i'm having second thoughts about this fistula and am thinking of staying on the catheter..

[lulu836]

@jambo101 I have had a catheter for about 4 years and no problems except for having to replace it twice.  The replacement process was, for me, painful.  Others report not so much.  Catheter was my only option because my veins and arteries would not stand up to the stress and also because I did not want to be "on the list" for tx as this late stage in my life.  Some say that showers are not allowed......some shower every day.  There will never be any more swimming "at the lake" or in the ocean for fear of infection.  My biggest problem is that I am extremely allergic to Betadine and all the other access sterilization techniques.  So I take ridiculously good care of it and only have had the contact dermatitis problem twice.  A round of Cortione fixes that right up.  My "chair time" is 3 hours fifteen minutes and I usually "escape" with 5 minutes of being disconnected.   There are several protective devices for the catheter patient's upper torso that will allow showers.  I use a Shower Shirt and have no problems. 

Others will cringe that I am praising use of the catheter over other D treatments but it works for me and you did ask. 

[UkrainianTracksuit]

I've had experience with fistulas, an AV graft and a catheter. Out of all these options, I preferred the catheter. Reasons: comfort, mobility and quick hook up/detach from the machine.

It caused me very little trouble and I never had an infection. Just it clotted up but was fine after they shoved in some Drain-o.

The thing is that I was always nagged to try another fistula or graft. The doctor always brought up better clearance with a fistula versus a catheter. As well, I was reminded about the durability (not sure if that's the right word, but whatever) of a fistula over a catheter. Such as I would get longer continued used out of it. The doctor and vascular access team were concerned I would use up all my possible spots for subsequent catheters and wanted me to save my neck veins for old age. It's kinda funny that they think I'm going to be still around doing dialysis in those years... but sure, okay.   

It will be interesting to see what your doc says if you decide to stay on the catheter. At least in my case, they pressured for a fistula and had loads of pamphlets to "lead patients in that direction."

[jambo101]

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@jambo101    There are several protective devices for the catheter patient's upper torso that will allow showers.  I use a Shower Shirt and have no problems. 

I use a product called Korshield =[url]https://www.korshield.com/index.html[url]

[GA_DAWG]

I think, obviously, people should use the method they are comfortable with between fistula, graft, or catheter. There is no denying the facts though that infection is more likely with a catheter, and that clearances are better with other than a catheter. I think that of late we seem to ignore proven medical or scientific facts quite easily if it does not agree with our position. That's a whole different subject though. I know that when I went from the catheter to using a graft, I felt better after a session, and even more so, I noticed more energy the next day.

[Riki]

My catheter was originally meant to be a temporary fix, until I'd healed enough after a peritonitis infection to have another PD catheter placed.  As soon as I knew that PD was no longer an option due to scar tissue, I started asking for a fistula.  I hated that catheter and I wanted it gone.  It took a year and a half, which included a lot of pestering the doctor in the last 2 months, to get it gone.  I still think there was some kind of threat made to the doctor that day, as he wasn't going to take it out, but then my mom called him, and 15 minutes later she showed up to take me to the hospital to get it out.

[jambo101]

first week using fistula is resulting in my arm being black and blue.