First Day of Dialysis

[pklipe57]

Friday at my appointment with my nephrologist they told me it was time to start dialysis.  My function wass 12 and my creatine was over 4.  My PTH is 200.  I had an appointment with my surgeon on Monday to check my fistula.  It is 9 weeks old.  I went and saw the surgeon and he said I needed angioplasty on the upper part of my fistula and sent me off to the hospital.  From there I went to dialysis for the first time.  One needle went in just fine and worked, the other needle went in but didn't have the blood flow it needed.  So my first dialysis lasted less than FIVE minutes.  Now I am scheduled to have a catheter put in tomorrow morning and and then straight to dialysis.  Hopefully I will only have the catheter a few weeks. 

This wasn't exactly the best way to start.  Has anyone else had a similar experience that they could share? 

Pam...

[paris]

Pam, I will be thinking of you tomorrow.  Let us know how the second try goes.   

[Stoday]

That's tough. I hope I don't have your bad luck when I start in six months time.

How long will your fistula take to repair?

Couldn't your dialysis start be delayed until it had been repaired? Or wasn't that an option?

[willieandwinnie]

  Oh Pam. I am so sorry. I hope they get your fistula working correctly. Let us know as we will be thinking of you. 

[G-Ma]

 

[hurlock1]

Well, I guess that I was blind going in. I had my fistula and cathetor put in at the same time. I had my cathetor put in and was using that until my fistula "matured" While I was asleep one night, I musta' put my elbow of arm on my cathetor, turned over, and woke up the next morning with the catheter laying in the bed. I couldn't figure out why I didn't bleed to death. The tried the fistula, it didn't work. So I had to go and get another catheter, this one sticking out of my neck. I was horrified. I couldn't go outside, couldn't see my grandkids. but finally some time later, I was able to use the fistula. Just a little helpful hint. It is OK to use Emla Cream. When you get to a 15 or 14 guage needle, They HURT going in. For me it's a pain in the back (only lower) remembering tp put the Emla Cream on an hour before dialysis, but it helps

[Savemeimdtba]

Well, I haven't had your exact experience.. but I did have the catheter and it's not SO bad.  It doesn't hurt or anything, it's just a pain to bathe and sleep.  But, you just have to keep thinking about it being gone soon and look forward to that.  I always find it's easier to deal with things if I think of something to look forward to.  The surgery itself won't hurt at all and you'll get some nice twilight meds to keep you calm and hopefully dialysis will help you feel better.. good luck!

[angellady07]

Take care Pam. I hope the angioplasty on your fistula goes well. I was lucky I only had my cath a couple of months before they started using second graft. I agree bathing is a real issue. I wrapped myself like a mummy with saran wrap and plenty of tape. I enjoyed a brief break from the needles.

[pklipe57]

I had my catheter put in Wednesday morning and was taken straight to dialysis and was home by 12:30 in the afternoon.  They only did a 2 and a half hour run.  Friday I will have 3 and a half hour run.   Everything went smooth.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel better already - I know a lot of the anxiety is now gone.  Thanks to everyone for their encouraging words.

Pam...

[angellady07]

I'm glad you are feeling better. Take care. 

[Savemeimdtba]

Excellent that you are feeling better!  Maybe after Friday you will be feeling even more healthy since you are getting rid of some of those toxins that have been building up.  I don't know about you but I never knew how much my low performing kidneys were affecting me until I started PD - I just thought it was normal to feel the way I did. 

[okarol]

Jenna's fistula took 6 months to mature, which I think is very unusual. But she used the chest catheter during that time with no problems. I took her to a little hair salon to have her hair washed, which made things easier. She really did enjoy those first showers after the catheter was removed!

[pklipe57]

I have now finished two weeks of dialysis using my catheter and am beginning to tell a difference.  I had a followup with the surgeon to recheck my fistula and the blood flow is great - however the vein is too deep in my upper arm.  He wants to go in and remove fat tissue so the vein will be closer to the surface.  Can anyone who has had this share their experience?  Thanks for your time.

[dwcrawford]

I fihished two weeks of d Friday.  Cath and fistala put in two weeks ago Monday.  Surgeon said he may have to do more work on the fistala because it might be too deep, similar  to your problem I think.  I check in next Monday.  In the mean time:

Did you all experience exhaustion at first.  On days when I feel human, all I want to do it sleep.  I'm either asleep or on my way to dialysis.  I'm also having blurred vision.  Is that typical.  Also, lack of appetite (probably attributable to the food we're supposed to eat).  I'm deathly afraid I'll pull the cath out or get it wet.  I want a long tub bath.

[pklipe57]

I was afraid of pulling the catheter out.  When they changed my dressing of Monday, they put something around the two tubes (whatever they are called) and the bottom of it sticks to my chest wall with a large sticky bandaid of some type.  It is much more secure and I don't feel like it is going to come out. 

I want to take a long hot shower and really wash my hair about 10 times.  Washing my hair in the sink isn't cutting it.  I did get a hand held shower head and I can have a shower or some sort.  It is better than nothing.

 

[monrein]

Please be very very careful about the showering and hair washing.  An infection in a permacath could be life threatening and isn't worth the risk IMO.  Some people have bought these Korshields to keep the catheter dry and safe.  Not cheap but way better than risking infection.

http://www.korshield.com/