Fistula Revision is Healing

I saw my vascular surgeon yesterday afternoon. I went in for a follow-up appointment to the fistula revision that I had done at the end of November. He ran the sonogram wand over my arm for about 15 minutes, and he said that the revision is healing very nicely. He also said that I would be ready to use it again in about three weeks.

So, that is some exciting news. In about three weeks, I will go back to the painful needles in my arm, rather than just tubes hooked up to my chest catheter. I know, it doesn’t sound all that great, but if the fistula is working correctly, then I should start getting an even better dialysis treatment. I also will get to have my chest catheter taken out a week or so after they start using the fistula again, so that will be nice. I am growing tired of covering the bandage in plastic every morning so that I can take a shower. Also, I am going to enjoy not having tubes in my chest that keep me from sleeping on my stomach. I’ll just tell you that it is not all that great to have a large bandage on your chest. My chest is small and the catheter is right in the middle of the right side of my chest. This means that the bandage has to try and curve around under my arm and attempt to stick. I usually have to tape it up (again) every morning so that the catheter stays covered up (and clean). It will not be a problem for me to stop tending to an open wound on my chest.

Our company is celebrating New Year’s Day on January 2, so I do not have to come to work that day. My mother and sister are coming to town for a short visit, so that will be fun. My mom came down at Thanksgiving and she got to see me at the dialysis clinic. I think that helped her get a better idea of what I am doing for 12 hours every week. I don’t know when they will get here, but if it is early enough, then my sister can come see the clinic as well. She also has Polycystic Kidney Disease, so dialysis and a transplant may one day be in her future as well.

So, since I am going to have some family in town, I don’t know how soon the next post will be. Stay tuned to your RSS readers, and I will update when I get a chance.

Thanks for reading today!!