Angioplasty

[JBLadyB]

I am not on dialysis yet, but have a AV fistula in my right arm, since September.  Now they the Dr.S have decided it maybe closing off.  I am scheduled for a angioplasty next Tuesday.  Can anyone tell me what exactly I am in for?   I hate surprises.  The Dr.S don't always tell you everything.  I know they are planning to use very little contrast dye, because that can damage what is left of my kidneys. I am also suppose to take some medicine for that and drown myself in fluid intake.

[KR Cincy]

I've had two angioplasies on my fistula...at my access center, they first did the ultrasound to see exactly how it was running, where it might be narrowing, etc. then they numbed my arm so I didn't feel anything but occasional pressure. They made a couple of small incisions to slide the syringe and balloon in and, I guess, pumped it up. Honestly, they gave me some happy drugs so I was either incoherent or asleep for the short time it took to do it. There's a little discomfort afterwards, but nothing that required more than a few Tylenol for me.

Good luck...hope it goes well!

[jbeany]

Let's see - my typical fistulagram -
Wake up waaaay to early for civilized people.  Shower, skipping breakfast (no food or liquids after midnight), brush teeth, put on comfy clothes, stagger out door to catch my ride.  (Can't drive yourself - to drugged to drive on the way home.)  Get to outpatient waiting room.  Sit around and wait for an hour while thumbing thru ancient magazines and trying to ignore the coffee brewing in the corner.  Finally get called into surgery prep.  Get to sign in, strip in the bathroom, put on skimpy gown, stupid surgery cap, and annoying paper footies. Argue with the nurse about not giving urine sample.  Wrap in an inadequate robe, and get led to an very uncomfortable stretcher.  More medical questions as they reconfirm the info they called and asked about the week before.  Double check that the IV is a microdrip so they don't overload me, and argue with the IV nurse that I don't want lidocaine - the burning annoys me more than the pain.  Argue that the one spot they favor on my wrist for IV's never works because of scar tissue.  Generally end up with an IV sticking uncomfortably out of the back of my hand so that they can still monitor blood pressure on the rest of the arm while they are doing the fistulagram on the other arm.  Wait some more.  Wait some more.  Finally get shifted upstairs to the other waiting room next to the procedure room.  Wait some more.  Eventually the angio doc comes in, pokes around at my fistula, grunts a few times, and gets me to sign some more paperwork,  (He has no bedside manner - but at least he's good at what he does.)  Wait some more.  Get wheeled into the room with the giant scanning equipment.  Wobble from the stretcher onto a platform that looks like an ironing board.  Insist on a pillow beneath my knees so I don't have to lay flat on the board.  The techs and nurses hook up oxygen, bp cuffs, and start adding drugs to the IV.  They wedge a couple of supports under both arms, cover me in a sterile drape, and coat the fistula arm in freezing cold antiseptic that is the same blue as a juiced smurf.  The nurse starts giving me good drugs, and I can feel the doc start inserting a needle to runthe balloons thru.  I tend to doze off thru most of it.  Sometimes the ballooning is a short sharp pain that wakes me from the doze.  If I make any kind of protest, they dose me with more drugs and knock me back out.  I wake up when the doc is gone, and the nurses are holding the sites on my arm.  I get bandaids and then they wheel me down to recovery.  They check  vitals and make sure there's no bleeding again, then send me home after about an hour.  How much it hurts the next day depends on how much they had to balloon.  Mine tends to be tender for most of the next week, especially when I sneeze or cough, but it doesn't take a lot of pain pills.

[Mimi]

I had one 2 weeks ago.  Didn't take any pain meds, that was a mistake.  Be sure and take the pain meds and
if it still hurts have them give you some more.  My arm is still black and blue, however no pain.
Good luck,

Mimi

[okarol]

Here's more info:

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=4287.0  Fistulagram/Fistulaplasty

and

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=2237.0 Venous Pressures, Fistulagrams, and other things no one told me about

[Ang]

had  an  angioplasty  12  months  ago,  guessing  i'm  due  for another  one  in  the  near  future,TAKE  THE  MEDS,  or  it  will  hurt  like  hell,  they  ballooned  right  ontop  of  the  shoulder  against  the  neck
good  luck  with  it  all

[JBLadyB]

Thanks for the info, I knew they weren't telling the whole story.  And I am one that wants to know what I am getting into!

[Razman]

I've had them an couple of times and  I remember the 1st time the person in the bed beside me saying how bad they are.  I found that they are really no big deal and  didn't need any drugs.  One time they even had to take one needle out and do a second one but  I just lied there and talked to the doctors.    Don't expect the worst I'm sure that it will be all OK.

[KR Cincy]

I guess mine's not as bad an experience because the neph group in town has set up a separate access center...they don't put in fistulas or catheters, but they tend to them and that's all they do...fistulagrams, angioplasties, etc. It's nice because they are focused, experienced and you don't wait with other sick people!!!