Today was the second to last day of dialysis with the chest catheter still intact. Even though we’re not using it, it’s good to know it’s there in case the fistula becomes troublesome. The needles went in pretty smoothly today, but there was some sharp pain in the arterial line as we started dialysis. This is the line that leaked blood all over the place last session. I guess the pain should have warned me that there will be bloodletting today too.
I was so tired from not sleeping that I fell asleep right away but woke up at ~7:00 am. I looked at my right arm and there was a trickle of blood coming from the arterial line again. I called the nurse and she cleaned it up, this time putting a alcohol pad on the insertion point as well. About two hours later, I look again and both the pad and the tapes seemed saturated with blood. I got a picture this time but it’s pretty gross. I don’t know how to embed photos other than as an inline graphic so no room for a trigger warning.
This was all coming from the lower needle; the upper venous line was doing great. By now, most of the blood had clotted so the tech said to leave it until the end when she removed the needles. There was still sharp pain coming from that area for the rest of the session and a lot of blood when she finally took all the tape off. Nobody was concerned though so not sure if it’s a big deal if it leaks each session. I’m just afraid I’ll fall asleep and bleed all over the floor.
Life with chronic diseases 