Fistula Time

[HipHopQueen]

I'm in the process of scheduling my fistula surgery. It brought up some emotions, none greater than sadness. I'm trying not to be too upset and be thankful that this procedure exists. I will be getting it in April in the elbow area, if that's the correct terminology for the place.

I guess I felt sadness because it's the first step in such a major change in my life and I'm a little scared. I have a great support group of family and friends but fear still creeps up from time to time. This is all so overwhelming and hard to wrap my head around. I guess I won't know how I will feel until I begin dialysis, but for now I'm trying to education myself and stay positive.

On another note I will be going to the transplant center for evaluating. My dad wants to see if he can donate to me. I doubt that will work out, but I love him for being so determined to make it work. I'm wondering what all will be done for 6 hours, but I am learning I need to be more inquisitive when I have the opportunity to ask.

[07gmctruck]

It's normal to be scared. The fistula unfortunately is part of dialysis. It sounds like you have a good support system. That is very important. God bless your dad for wanting to be tested. In time it becomes part of your life. I take it day by day. I consider the team where i go for dialysis my second family. I wish you all the best. I hope you have good luck with a transplant.

[HipHopQueen in reply to 07gmctruck]

Thanks for writing me. I always feel better hearing from others.

[cs65 NKF Ambassador]

Hopefully, with COVID waning down, you'll be able to have a loved one with you for the creation of the fistula. You will be under sedation and won't feel anything or remember the surgery. You will be seen by nurses, the anesthetist and her staff, and the surgeon before the procedure and have a chance to ask questions. When I had it done I needed to ask for Zofran to be administered before the procedure to prevent nausea because I react that way to anesthesia. As for the transplant evaluation, you will be seen by the nurse pretransplant coordinator, the social worker, the finance coordinator, and the transplant surgeon at least. Then you'll have a lot of blood tests and be given a list of tests that you'll have to complete before you can be approved and placed on the transplant list. You said your father wants to be a donor, so he would have to go through a similar meeting and set of tests to be approved. This all takes months to do - I didn't finish all the tests within one year, so I had to do them all again the next year before I got onto the transplant list. It was kind of ironic that I got on the list and started dialysis the same month! If you do start dialysis first, they count you being on the list from your first day of dialysis, provided all your tests come out ok. Oh, and try to develop a list of questions before you go to your first transplant evaluation and try to have a loved one present to support you and ask their questions, too.

[HipHopQueen in reply to cs65]

Thank you so much for your response. It’s helpful to know more about everything. I’m worried and haven’t been sleeping the greatest thinking about everything but I know it’s normal to be going through a rang of emotions.

[cs65 NKF Ambassador]

That's all right, I think I was worried and scared, too when I had to start thinking about dialysis and transplant. Luckily, I had a slow progressing kidney disease (PKD) and had 13 years or so before I had to plan for dialysis. And I only had 4 years on dialysis before hitting the jackpot and getting a living donor transplant! I got my transplant at age 68 and am now 70, so you're never too old either!