Why we call Australia OZ? / Kidney disease and apperance

[Amanda From OZ]

Hello!!

Thank you its great to finally have somewhere i can chat to people who really understand.

Well a few of you were asking why we call Australia oz?? to tell you the truth i wouldn't have a clue!! ha ha I was told it has something to do with the world Aussie?? it sounds like oz??? ha ha i will try to ask around!

BTW i wanted to know the state of everyone fistula... i have seen many other patients and (no offence) their vein looks all bumpy, and huge and not very attractive?? is this what happens after many years of dialysis... ? i would really like to know. i have been on dialysis for 2 and a bit years and you can hardly see it.. i would like to know if it will change??? I work in a industry were my appearance is important.. i know it might sound shallow, but being so young i am worried about the changes kidney disease could have..

Would like to know what you think.


Amanda
xx

[Joe Paul]

This is my fistula, a little over 5 months old. I would think, by now, if you were going to see it, you would. Though I think too, it depends on how the fistula is being "stuck".

[Amanda From OZ]

Thanks for the picture!! your fistulas isnt as big as some of the other people i ahve seen..

i guess the good side of it is... the bigger the vein the easier it is to find the vein. 

[Joe Paul]

Your welcome, and thanks for the compliment. You'd be surprised at certain people not finding that vein. There are 2 at my clinic now, I wont let near me with the needles.

[angieskidney]

Wow that is a REALLY good pic of your fistula Joe Paul!!!

I have been trying to take a god pic of mine but it just seems like all everyone sees is the start that they don't stick the needle into ..

[Bajanne]

Just last dialysis day, I got a look at a guy who has been on dialysis for 9 years.  That thing on his arm is huge!!  You couldn't miss it with a cannon ball!  I don't have a fistula; I have a graft, and all that I have is keloids marking where I get stuck.

I think Australia is called Oz because that is how you guys pronounce your first syllable - Oz-tryl-yah!  I just love the Australian accent.  Crocodile Dundee was a big hit in my country.  We are very accustomed to the Australian accent because of the cricket commentaries, and because of the radio serials when I was young, though we used to think the people were British!

[Zach]

I've seen some woman over the years use the upper leg instead of the arm for placement of the a/v fistula.

[deej]

I´ve had my fistula in use for a year and a half and have no bumps or lumps at all. Thank God  . Just marks where they stick me. My doctors said that it all depends on the vein. So keep squeezing that ball  .

[kitkatz]

Angie:
OUCH! That looks painful!

[Amanda From OZ]

wow thanks forr the replys and the photos

i will try to take a pic of my arrm tonight!!!

[kevno]

Not much point in taking a pic of my arm the fistula is only about 2 inches long now, had it in since 1980. Plus no bumps on it, just a scar from my wrist to my shoulder. Where the Surgeons tried, and failed to restart it

[Rusty]

Not much point in taking a pic of my arm the fistula is only about 2 inches long now, had it in since 1980. Plus no bumps on it, just a scar from my wrist to my shoulder. Where the Surgeons tried, and failed to restart it

Damn, I thought mine was old.  I've had it since 1985 and it's ugly but it still pulls 450.  It's in my lower arm and I cut the top 5 inches off of athletic socks and wear it as a sleeve to protect the aneurisms.

[Rerun]

Mine is about a year old, but it was only used about 2 months and then they decided to do a fistula gram and blew it out.  The Radiologist saved it with a stint, but they had to put the catheter back in my chest so now I've got them by the balls.  They are not using my fistula until my catheter falls out.  They do not give me any shit about it either.  The way I see it, I'll use the fistula for the rest of my life, why push it.  Use the catheter while it is there.

Back to your question.... mine is pretty big with a pseudo aneurysm but no one says anything.

[kevno]

I am like Rerun (OUCH! That hurt to say that ) Will only let the nurses use the caths in my neck, the two that are in now have been in since October 2003. Only trouble is I can not get a pump speed of more than 250 more often than not, the speed is less than that.

[angieskidney]

Mine is about a year old, but it was only used about 2 months and then they decided to do a fistula gram and blew it out. 

Woah! That can happen?? Because of the problems with my fistula I am now scheduled for a Fistulogram for Aug 21st! Should I be worried?? I want to stay on top of things! 

[Amanda From OZ]

I have had a fistulagram a couple of times and all went well...... there are rick with anything you do... but i'm sure you will all go okay

[angieskidney]

Thank you! I can't help but be scared of things I haven't yet been through. You would think by now I would have been through it all already 

I will post how it goes

[Panda_9]

I would say most of us pronounce it sort of like Oz-Tral-ya and then you've got Aussie, which is pronounced "Ozzie", and thus you have "OZ".

My fistula is pretty big but it looks more like a muscle than a bulging vein since the aneurysm reduced in size. I have a nasty scar though.

What is a fistula gram? Is that like an angiogram?

[BigSky]

Mine is about a year old, but it was only used about 2 months and then they decided to do a fistula gram and blew it out. 

Woah! That can happen?? Because of the problems with my fistula I am now scheduled for a Fistulogram for Aug 21st! Should I be worried?? I want to stay on top of things! 

I have had a couple of them and had no problem.  They will take a look to see whats going on with your fistula.  Any narrowing etc.  Being that you are hard  to stick make sure to ask them for a copy of one of the x-rays.   That way you can show the x-ray to the those that stick you and it should greatly help them out to see just what your fistula looks like and where the best spot is to stick it.

[angieskidney]

I have had a couple of them and had no problem.  They will take a look to see whats going on with your fistula.  Any narrowing etc.  Being that you are hard  to stick make sure to ask them for a copy of one of the x-rays.   That way you can show the x-ray to the those that stick you and it should greatly help them out to see just what your fistula looks like and where the best spot is to stick it.

Oh wow! That is an excellent idea! I just hope they will comply!

[Panda_9]

Helloooo whats a fistulagram?

[BigSky]

Helloooo whats a fistulagram?

A fistulagram is where they do a  x-ray study of your fistula. It is used to detect problems such as a clots or narrowing area in the fistula and vein.  They inject a dye and take x-rays to see how the dye is flowing in the fistula.  If an area is narrowing or there is a clot they can stick a wire with a balloon into it and expand the narrow area or break up any clots.

[kitkatz]

So...tell me where does the dye go. Do your kidneys filter it out??? Good luck on me, they are not filtering squat lately. So where does the dye go?  Has anyone asked the doctor or are we all going to glow in the dark when we ar 50 or so from dye?  I had so many IVPs done as a kid , at least two a year, I am not surprised the kidneys were having problems. Now they are avoiding IVPs in kidney patients.

Hmmmmm I will probably glow when I am 50, if I make it the next seven years!
Preglowing over here.

[Panda_9]

Thanks for clearing that up. Cant say Ive ever had one. We have dopplers to check for narrowing and blood flow. The dye passes out through the bowel over several days. Im not sure if all dyes are the same though.

[angieskidney]

Helloooo whats a fistulagram?

A fistulagram is where they do a  x-ray study of your fistula. It is used to detect problems such as a clots or narrowing area in the fistula and vein.  They inject a dye and take x-rays to see how the dye is flowing in the fistula.  If an area is narrowing or there is a clot they can stick a wire with a balloon into it and expand the narrow area or break up any clots.

Oh then I may have had one before! Because they stuck something in and someone said it must have been this balloon thing. It helped this one as I did have blockage. But there seems to be more problems. Hopefully they can get this working better with this next fistulogram but if they see nothing then there will be nothing they can do to make it better I guess

to kitkatz... I have no kidneys to filter the dye out

Thanks for clearing that up. Cant say Ive ever had one. We have dopplers to check for narrowing and blood flow. The dye passes out through the bowel over several days. Im not sure if all dyes are the same though.

Don't sometimes they give you someting to make you .. uh ... "go" because of how our only way for getting the dye out is through the bowels??