It’s been almost two weeks since the surgery. I still keep a bandage over the incision even though it has stopped bleeding for a few days. I showed my arm to the nephrologist today during dialysis. He put his fingers on the bandage and gave a nod of approval. Evidently you can feel the blood rushing by in the newly connected vein. You can definitely hear the blood flowing; it makes a loud whooshing sound.
I don’t know how long it takes for the incision to heal. There is still sutures in the incision; I won’t get that removed until next week. Meanwhile, the area is still pretty swollen and looks pretty ugly.
I don’t know what the second small cut is for. I’m pretty sure the incision will eventually close up and heal but I’m a bit anxious about the actual fistula. I’ve seen many of them at the dialysis clinic and they are all really gross looking. I guess it depends on the age of the fistula but a lot of them are huge purple-ish bumps on the arm. An old Chinese lady was bleeding profusely from her arm after dialysis even though she sat and put pressure on the fistula for 15 minutes. Not looking forward to all this.
Life with chronic diseases 