Disappointment

Steve had the appointment with Dr. Lukens today. As Dr. Brown suspected there is something wrong with the fistula(access in the arm for dialysis). The only way to find the problem is to inject dye which they don't want to do because it could take whats left of the kidney function which is not much. Contrast dye for any test is hard for kidneys to get rid of. Dr Lukens suspects there is two issues the first being where the graft was done where the artery and the vein come together, about 1 to 2 inches from the wrist on the inside of the arm. The other issue he believes is that there are branches coming off the main blood supply which is not that uncommon. If it is what he suspects there are a couple of things that can be done. If the vein has narrowed they can angioplasty it like they do on heart patients and make the narrow places wider. They can also tie the branches off depending on how many there are (there would be an incision for every place that needs to be tied off). They just won't know for sure without using the dye.

So, the next plan of action is the 2nd week of November he will be admitted to the hospital, have the catheter put in his next(another dialysis access), he will get dialysis 1 or 2 days and while in the hopital they will do the dye to find the problem with the fistula. Steve picked the 2nd week of November. They will work on getting the fistula fixed and he will have to use the other access for dialysis. If something happens between now and November and he gets sick they will do an emergency procedure and put the catheter in his neck. The doctor says some of his older patients like the catheter access because they do not like getting stuck all the time. The risk of infection is higher.

Pray for what is left of the kidney to last 5 more weeks.
He went to the field when we got back from the doctors appointment. Pray for good weather.

Christy