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Anyone shut down their kidney dialysis fistula after transplant?
Transplants | Last Active: Dec 18, 2022 | Replies (23)Comment receiving replies
Hi @missdi Thank you so much for sharing your story and giving me this information! Were you in pain when you first had surgery to put in the fistula?... Or was the swelling and pain all related to shutting the fistula down? When they tie off the artery, does the arm have enough circulation or is that the reason you had so much swelling, pain and couldn't use your hand without pain? My local surgeon said it's a very simple and easy procedure but hearing your experience makes me very concerned. It sounds like you had a full year of recovery including PT for a "simple" procedure. Would you recommend not doing it?
Replies to "Hi @missdi Thank you so much for sharing your story and giving me this information! Were..."
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@hello1234 No problem putting in the upper right arm, just healing time took six months before I could use it. Now that I’m all healed I’m happy I had it taken out. Mine was super loud. When it’s quiet at night, you could hear the swishing, so I never had a good night of sleep. I admit the healing time was rough…..I thought it was a simple procedure to. Doctor said he was going to make a couple cuts and remove it, when I was finally able to see what was done I had pretty nice size cuts in 3 places on my arm. I didn’t expect to go through that much difficulty. My hand was the worst. Everyone heals differently. I kept it elevated and iced, then the next week used heat. The upper arm was healing fine, but I had extreme swelling in my hand. That caused me the most pain. Now that it is all healed, I’m very happy I did it. With all the needle marks and cuts, it’s not a pretty looking arm, but I’m ok with that. All worth it in the end…. Hope this was helpful.