I knew it!!!

[Phil]

So today I go in for my session...and as I get in I notice that on duty there are 2 nurses, both of which are bad news.....the first one managed to infiltrate me 2 weeks ago (still have a very large bruise on my upper arm), and the second nurse who had never touched me.... So...as I get myself ready on my bed..along comes the second nurse....all seems good...the machine is ready...I'm ready....BUTTTTT....then she starts to stick me...an hour and a half later I'm still not connected, and she tried to stick me in SIX DIFFERENT places!! Result? MY entire enght of my fistula is now bruised, and in 2/3 spots its hard and swollen. I tell her to quit trying and take everything out because she's only doing damage.

Now I'm at home, and my fistula is aching, in some spots it feels swollen and hard, and the thrill is reduced....tomorrow I haveto go back to my unit for a fistula check up...see the damage she caused....

Sorry for my first rant...but I know if anybody will understand....you will!

[carson]

Holy Crap!! As it is I'm scared of needles, and then I hear something like that! God I hope my line lasts forever!!

[RightSide]

I suggest you have a face-to-face meeting with that nurse's supervisor. 

Your fistula is your "life-line," you've had that hammered into you just like I have--and you can't afford to have it damaged by incompetent nurse's.

[LoneHighway]

Can you stick yourself? Do centers only let you do that if you're a home hemo patient?

[monrein]

Phil, I totally understand how scary it is to think about them damaging your fistula and that is exactly why I decided very early on that if anyone was going to put those needles in it would be me, myself and me alone.  The hurdle is mostly a mental one and a challenging one at that, but the control and the peace of mind, the elimination of the anxiety associated with the crap shoot of who gets to stick you and the certainty that you can do right by your own arm and care properly for the fistula, make it most worthwhile in my opinion.  I know not everyone can do this but I really believe that everyone ought to give it very serious thought and as for myself, it really paid off in both the short and the long runs.
Insist that the clinic provide you only with experienced cannulators in the meantime.   

[Stacy Without An E]

This makes me so angry.  Six times is ridiculously outrageous.  In the past with my graft, if they couldn't get the needles in after the second try, I demanded that someone else put them in.  Since my buttonhole fistula, most everyone has been able to stick me successfully.

After a second chance, you need to speak up for yourself and ask for someone else.  This is bordering torture and cruelty.  I agree with others above: you need to speak to the Clinic Manager about this awful situation.  The nurses may pull an attitude after that, but who cares?

Best of luck and don't let them push you around.

[texasstyle]

Oh yes how I agree, that is your "lifeline". I would angry too and I would ranting all the place. I hope you can find one nurse that does it will and will be the same nurse that will do it each time. I hope nothing severe has happened to your fistula. Keep us posted please.

[Riki]

I had that problem too, but the nurses have a policy, can't get it in 2 tries, give patient a break, and get someone else. It took 3 of them to get it one day, but at least I got a break after every 2 tries.

[Des]

BEEN THERE DONE THAT..... - NINE TIMES AND  I HAD TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT AS WELL.

Don't you just hate it!

[Phil]

Ok so I went in for the check up...did a eco etc.....there's no permanent damage...just swollen & bruised. Next time I wont be so patient with the techs Thanks for the support fam!!!

[kitkatz]

Hate i when I get stuck more than once!  to the nurses!

[Riki]

well, I kinda have to get stuck twice anyway. *LOL*

Emla cream is the greatest invention ever, btw....

[RenalSurvivorDotCA]

Yep, that is not fun. Our unit has the same policy as Riki's: If the nurse can't get it in two tries, she gets another nurse to try. We actually now have a "Vascular Nurse" whose job it it to cannulate patients with difficult accesses. She is a longtime dialysis nurse and is a pro with any access. She's never missed as far as I know.

I also had troubles while travelling and visiting other units with nurses who NEVER saw my access before and  yet were so cocky that they thought they knew better than me where to stick. After getting a sepsis infection at a different unit, I asked my unit if I could learn to needle myself. i said I watched them do it for several years and I know the "sweet spots". I learned how and now they all marvel at how I do it so fast and it works so good. And I'm not even lefthanded! Now there is no X factor. I am the needler in my own unit or when I travel.

[Riki]

I've never had a problem while traveling.   I tell them which way the needle should go, and they put it in as I saw, all goes well. Mind you, I've only ever been to one other unit, in Manhattan, NYC.  That will change in a few weeks when I go to Ottawa. I'll have to let you all know how things go there.