Re: Anybody Know the answer to this?

[Guest guest]

Good question.

Well, no fistula works forever. But they can do more things now to make them

last as long as possible. For example, sometimes they start clotting, and

when that happens, they can do a kind of angiogram and balloon angioplasty

on it, to clean it out. I know many fistulas that have been working for many

year. Usually, they last long enough for you to get a kidney transplant off

the waiting list. If they don't, well, things happen. In that case, they can

make one in the forearms vs the upper arm, or they can go into the other

arm, and if it's necessary, eventually they can make one in the thigh. Where

I go for dialysis, they use a special computerized machine to check out the

flow and recirculation in the fistula once a month. It's a simple thing,

done while I'm on dialysis. In the hypothetical case that they do run out of

suitable veins, then they use a perma-cath, which is a kind of catheter

inserted in the chest. It's not ideal, but it works. I see many other

patients who have one, simply because they never did have any good veins for

a fistula.

Pierre

Anybody Know the answer to this?

> I am thinking of going onto 'hemo' when the time comes for my

> dialysis. In order to do this I would have to have a fistula put

> into my arm. I talked to the doctors about this, and they told me

> that the average fistula only lasts for a couple of years at the

> most. So then you get another fistula, right? Are there an unlimited

> number of places one person can have a fistula made at, or is there

> a limit of places to put them? When they run out of places (if that

> happens) then what would I do? Forgive me for sounding

> ignorant...lol.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks!

- In iga-nephropathy , " Pierre L \(groups\) " <pgl-

groups@s...> wrote:

> Good question.

>

> Well, no fistula works forever. But they can do more things now to

make them

> last as long as possible. For example, sometimes they start

clotting, and

> when that happens, they can do a kind of angiogram and balloon

angioplasty

> on it, to clean it out. I know many fistulas that have been

working for many

> year. Usually, they last long enough for you to get a kidney

transplant off

> the waiting list. If they don't, well, things happen. In that

case, they can

> make one in the forearms vs the upper arm, or they can go into the

other

> arm, and if it's necessary, eventually they can make one in the

thigh. Where

> I go for dialysis, they use a special computerized machine to

check out the

> flow and recirculation in the fistula once a month. It's a simple

thing,

> done while I'm on dialysis. In the hypothetical case that they do

run out of

> suitable veins, then they use a perma-cath, which is a kind of

catheter

> inserted in the chest. It's not ideal, but it works. I see many

other

> patients who have one, simply because they never did have any good

veins for

> a fistula.

>

> Pierre

>

> Anybody Know the answer to this?

>

>

> > I am thinking of going onto 'hemo' when the time comes for my

> > dialysis. In order to do this I would have to have a fistula put

> > into my arm. I talked to the doctors about this, and they told me

> > that the average fistula only lasts for a couple of years at the

> > most. So then you get another fistula, right? Are there an

unlimited

> > number of places one person can have a fistula made at, or is

there

> > a limit of places to put them? When they run out of places (if

that

> > happens) then what would I do? Forgive me for sounding

> > ignorant...lol.

> >

> >

> >

> >