@somedaydialysisfree, I delayed for as long as possible to have hubby get a fistula. He was using a CVC and it worked for us because so much easier and not as much germs at home. The center always pushed for fistula(because they will get marked down if using CVC by CMS) but I was able to postpone due to COVID. I was able to convince the dialysis neph to allow him to keep the CVC(have to religiously keep in clean, dry and intact) until tranpslant. I've got lots of accessories that I purchased to clean and cover the CVC when not in use(special CVC tegaderms not provided by the center)!!
But even if you had to cannulate though, a lot of the dialysis patients( on facebook support page) used buttonhole and worked well. Some ppl preferred the the ladder method. We were prepared to do the button hole method because his fistula would have been on his bicep, which doesn't leave much room for laddering!! In our center, we had to get permission to do button hole because they consider to be have more infectious risk!