I had my interventional radiology procedure (fistulagram) this morning. The radiologist said that the entire upper half of the fistula (in my uppper arm) is blocked. Blood is not flowing through that part of the vein. So, the lower part of the fistula found a different route to get the blood to a larger vein and eventually back to my heart. The connecting tributary is very small, and the radiologist did not want to try and enlarge it for fear of tearing up the vein. The small tributary is the reason that the flow rate is so bad. The radiologist decided that the best course of action would be to talk with the vascular surgeon to figure out what to do next. I am hoping the vascular surgeon will call in the next two weeks to let me know what is going on. In summary, I learned that my fistula is blocked up in my upper arm and that the radiologist couldn't help. The good news is that they did not have to put in a temporary catheter in my chest (which was one possible outcome).
For those of you praying, please pray that the vascular surgeon will be able to come up with a good solution to fix my fistula so that it provides a better flow. I am not sure what will happen next, so stay tuned for more information. You will know more when I do!
460) Annual Update
4 years ago
2 comments:
Please tell what has happened next. Is your dialysis impaired?
Today is April 24, 2006
Thanks for posting a comment. I went through some of my archives. I think these are the next entries that you need to read. I am giving you a list of links where I mostly talk about the fistula. There are other good posts in between, but hopefully these will help resolve the story for you.
Surgery Update
Nathans Post Surgery Update Part I
Nathans Post Surgery Update Part II
Chest Catheter on Thursday
Perm-cath Placed
Fistula Revision is Healing
Back to Fistula
16-gauge Needles Again
414 Flow Rate
Fistula Perils
Another Fistula Surgery on Monday
Fistula Number Two
New Fistula Follow-up
up through the current post at:
Current Posts
I hope that helps resolve the story of the fistulagram, the revision, the fistula failure, and the new fistula (upper arm).
Thanks for reading. I love hearing from my readers!
- Nathan
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