Fistula questions

[Loretta]

My fistula was doing well. I was using it with one needle when it suddenly quite working.  I am off my coumadine (blood thinner) due to having a neph tube put in to drain my kidney.  I got a bad case of the flu and spent a day laying in bed and throwing up.  Then yesterday at dialysis the fistula wasn't working!  They got my an appointment to get it taken care of tomorrow.  I thought  they had to be worked on within 24 hours?  How bad will it hurt?  How sick will I be afterwards?  This will be my fourth little surgery in three weeks and I am tired of pain and being sick!   

[Sluff]

Sorry you have to go through this and I'm hoping for an easy fix. 

[boxman55]

I can't tell you how you will feel after it is checked out, but the sooner the better. Sorry you have had so many surgeries recently. Hope all is resolved soon...Boxman

[jbeany]

I did the same thing to mine at the beginning of December - got sick, dehydrated and clotted off my graft.  The doc was out of town, so I ended up waiting 3 days to get it fixed.  The doc unclotted it without much problem, and put in a stent.  The stent hurt like mad while they were inserting it, but didn't bother me much after that.  If they are doing the unclotting by going in with a guide wire and a needle, it's not a big deal to recover from.  It's typical outpatient surgery and not much recovery time.  Have you had a fistulagram done?  The discomfort level and recovery time is very similar.