Just before Christmas we had a bit of setback with the "buttonholing." We were going to the dialysis clinic in Madison three days a week in order to get the fistula in Sabine's arm working so that we can make a shift from the tunnel catheter in her neck to a "buttonhole" access in her arm. (The original surgery to make this happen occured last Spring before her stem cell transplant.)
So, here we are back at UW Hospital today trying to find out why her arm was so swollen, bruised and painful. It appears she has some kind of blockage and the docs are going to take a picture of the veins in her arm and she where the problem lies. Then they will attempt to clear the blockage so we can get back to our buttonholing process.
[A short time later] Dr Yevzlin reported he found two narrow/blocked areas in her arm and opened them up. We also have a picture of the fistula which should help dialysis staff find a dialysis site without probing with needles!
So, we are now ready to go, back to the dialysis center tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. to do some more vein expanding! (Sabine must feel like a pin cushion!).
Forward!
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