Sigh. I’m so tired of doctor appointments where the answer is always the worst possible outcome. Just when you think you have things under control, something comes along and makes everything worse. Kidney failure is like that. I thought having end stage renal disease was bad enough but there is a whole world of side effects and complications just waiting to bite me in the ass.
I had an appointment with a vascular surgeon this afternoon after dialysis. He was the surgeon that put in my peritoneal dialysis catheter back in April. My PD nurse said he’s competent surgeon but a bit arrogant. Anyway, the main reason for the visit was the removal of the now useless PD catheter. He said that requires surgery and general anesthesia, and I may as well put in a permanent dialysis access at the same time. This means getting a fistula in my left arm during the same surgery. Here I was hoping my next surgery was for a kidney transplant but of course life doesn’t go the way you planned. Next I will need a vein mapping of my arm, then surgery, then two months of healing before the fistula can be used. By the time the fistula is ready for use, I’m probably scheduling the kidney transplant.
I had really hoped that I could get out of getting a fistula and keep using the chest catheter until transplant. I see many fistulas at the dialysis clinic since it’s the preferred access for hemodialysis. None of the fistulas look pretty. Now it appears I will be stuck with a fistula even if I only get to use it for a few months. However, back to the maxim where nothing goes as planned. The transplant can get delayed or cancelled, or there may be complications afterwards. I guess having a fistula just in case is probably useful. Also, in 10-15 years the transplanted kidney will probably fail and I will need dialysis access again. Maybe the fistula will still be working then.
Life with chronic diseases 