Today, the needles went into my arm very smoothly. The tech got both needles in on the first try so it only took about 2 minutes from start to finish. My arm also didn’t hurt that much during the session. However, I think the venous needle caused a small bruise, but it’s mostly gone now. My arm is getting pretty scarred.
The arm is getting pretty lumpy too as the vein is getting bigger. You can feel an hear the blood rushing through the blood vessel in my lower arm.
I’m still waiting for a call from the vascular surgeon. I think they may want to do an ultrasound to see what’s up with the fistula and why sometimes it’s difficult to get the needles in right. Until then, the chest catheter stays. Here’s a photo of the last one they removed about an year ago. Catheter is on the left; it runs from the right side of my chest across to the heart through one of the large blood vessels (vena cava?).
Life with chronic diseases 